India, Oct. 25 -- West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has embarked on a grand project that has been repeatedly postponed for more than 5 decades: The development of the Sunderbans and its adjoining areas, including the famous Ganga Sagar Islands.

Often referred to as a "stepchild of Kolkata" for the kind of neglect the successive Governments subjected it to, a large part of South 24 Parganas would now be developed and decked up under a new "Sunderban model" that would not only include a 3 km bridge over Muri Ganga to connect the Ganga Sagar Islands with the mainland - making communication easier for 20 lakh pilgrims - but also afford the yearly Ganga Sagar Mela (fair) an international status.

This would also create a new distric...