KOHIMA, Sept 18 � In commemoration of celebration of World Bamboo Day today, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio this morning flagged of a �Green marathon� here.
Girls and boys from various schools and colleges took part in the 11-km marathon from local ground to Indira Gandhi stadium, organised by State Sports and Youth Resources department as part of the three-day International Bamboo Day event at Kisama near here.
Flagging off the marathon, Chief Minister said the green run is an expression of solidarity and support towards exploring huge potential of bamboo usages as wood substitute to confront the emerging ecological problem and global warming.
Rotary Club of Kohima organised a painting competition among school children with bamboo as theme this morning at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama as part of the celebrations. The 8th World Bamboo Congress held in October last year decided to celebrate 18th September as the World Bamboo Day every year.
Later in the afternoon, Vice-President Hamid Ansari will grace the celebration as the chief guest at Kisama, 12-km south of here. The three-day event culminating today has been jointly organised by Nagaland Government and World Bamboo Organisation and sponsored by National Bamboo Mission and NEC.
According to an official release, the Vice President will also visit border district of Tuensang tomorrow and interact with NGOs and civil society organisations at Raj Bhavan here in the evening. � PTI
