Centre not giving funds to promote Sundarbans: Bengal minister

Kolkata: The West Bengal government today said it was planning to project Sundarbans as a tourist destination, but the Centre was not coming forward with financial help to support the endeavour.

"We need help from the Centre to promote Sundarbans, but it is not doing," state Tourism minister Bratya Basu said at the inauguration of a mega tourism trade fair.

Reminded that Sunderbans is an ecologically fragile area and construction may attract lot of restrictions, Basu said, "We are not encouraging construction but want more people to travel to Sundarbans.

He also criticised the Centre for not offering funds for religious tourism.

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also participated in the tourism trade fair.