The Chief Minister's Office has asked the District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas to submit a report on the matter, Sundarbans Affairs Minister Kanti Ganguly told The Hindu. “I had asked the DM to submit a report on Friday and today the Chief Minister has sought a report from the DM on this matter, which is a very serious issue," Mr. Ganguly said. Joynagar in Kultoli falls under the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve which is one of the two biosphere reserves in the country (the other being the Niligiris) in the global network of biosphere reserves. Because of its unique eco-system, the area was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1989 according to the site's website. The extent of mangrove reserve forest in the Indian Sundarbans is around 4,260 square km of which 55 per cent is over land vegetation cover and the rest under water body or tidal zone. Read the full report here.
Source: Indrani Dutta, The Hindu, Kolkata
