UNI SPECIALNayanika SamantaKolkata, April 25 -- Environmental protection has gained prominence in the election manifestos of West Bengal's major political parties. While the Trinamool Congress (TMC) wants to protect farms from river erosion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to protect Royal Bengal tigers and promote eco-tourism, while the CPIM(M) wants to stop the filling up of wetlands, canals and ponds.
The TMC has proposed a series of initiatives centred on scientific planning and technological intervention to solve the problem of climate change. The centrepiece of the party's proposal is a comprehensive riverbank protection master plan for erosion-prone districts such as Malda and Murshidabad along the Ganges.
The plan will comb...