BETTIAH, Aug. 5 -- The Bihar government has identified vast stretches of unused wetlands across five districts-East Champaran, Madhubani, Saran (Chapra), Munger and Bhagalpur-for transformation into major fish production hubs as part of central government's flagship programme Chaur Vikas Yojana. Shrisat Kapil Ashok, secretary of animal and fisheries department said that the chief secretary, in principle, has given his consent. "We are looking forward to taking the proposal for a review with the chief minister before sending it to the Centre," the secretary said. Ashok added that the proposal included the promotion of Tilapia (a species of fish) farming, Chhara for freshwater Scampi (giant freshwater prawn) farming and cage culture in Munger among others. He hoped the initiative would bring unutilised wetlands under scientific aquaculture, boosting fish production, generating rural employment and enhancing farmers' incomes through the use of waterlogged land. According to officials a project worth Rs.195 crore has already been approved and is set to come up on about 650 hectares of wetland across three blocks of Siwan district. The project will be implemented in the Goriyakothi, Bhagwanpur Hat and Basantpur blocks, where waterlogged chaur (wetland) areas have been identified for scientific aquaculture development namely hatchery and fish processing, besides the promotion of eco-tourism. Notably, Bihar is a producer of 10.28 lakh matric tonnes of fish every year with Madhubani leading the pack, closely followed by East Champaran and Bhagalpur. The proposal aims at increasing the fish farming from three quintals (average) per hectare to seven-eight quintals in the targeted wetlands of five districts, officials said....