The state government, which was organizing the event, said it expected 20 million people to create the 3,007-kilometre-long human chain across Bihar by late Saturday afternoon.
‘People including farmers, workers, women and children are holding each others hands in support of prohibition in the state,’ government spokesman Vinodanand Jha said in the state capital Patna.
‘This will be the world's longest human chain. The effort is voluntary.’ Jha said the chain had a ‘sub-route’ and would span 11,292 kilometres in total. ‘It comprises the main route of 3,007 kilometres and a sub-route of 8,285 kilometres within the districts, irregular and not necessarily linking with the main route,’ he added.
According to the Guinness World Records, the world's longest human chain was formed in Bangladesh in 2004 when over 5 million political workers joined hands in a line stretching 1,050 kilometres.
State officials said they had asked the Guinness World Records to assess the human chain for inclusion, but it had not sent observers due to technical issues in monitoring the effort. Emails to Guinness went unanswered.
Bihar has already banned the sale of alcohol, alongside the states of Gujarat, Nagaland and Manipur. The ban in the other three states has not been effective as prohibition laws have not been strictly enforced.
