Patna: Two officials from Bihar will take part in a conference in Bangkok, Thailand, from March 20 to 22 on impact mitigation of climate change.

All the major Asian countries are taking part in the event which has been organised under the aegis of United Nations Development Programme. The Bihar officials - environment and forest department principal secretary Tripurari Sharan Singh and principal chief conservator of forest D.K. Shukla - will be part of the Indian contingent.

A source in the environment and forest department told The Telegraph on Monday that the state had prepared a presentation for the conference and will also seek technical assistance for addressing the challenges it is facing due to climate change.

A major issue which Bihar will raise in the conference pertains to silt deposits in the rivers.

"The state will share details about the study conducted by IIT-Kanpur on this and also a model presented by an Indian company for commercial use of the silt for making tiles. After making the presentation, the state will seek technical assistance from the global agencies for best use of the silt," said the source.

The IIT-Kanpur study has revealed that the river silt has alumina and silica that could be used for making tiles. A Hyderabad-based company has come up with a commercial model for making tiles from the silt.

The state will also raise issues concerning poverty and its correlation with over-exploitation of natural resources.

"Bihar being a poor state, a good chunk of its population still depends on firewood for cooking. This leads to pressure on the green cover of the state. Similarly, lack of pure drinking water sources make poor people dependent on natural sources of water for their daily needs, which puts pressure on water bodies. The state will seek technical support for mitigating the adverse impact of such activities," said the source.

Another senior official in the department revealed: "There are plans to set up a centre for climate change under the state environment and forest department and the Bangkok conference will be used to seek technical assistance for the centre as it will be a first-of-its-kind initiative in Bihar."