West Bengal to have two new districts tomorrow

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to make the official announcement regarding two new districts - Sundarbans and Basirhat - tomorrow. They are set to be carved out of South and North 24 Parganas districts.

The district of Sundarbans is likely to have around 13 blocks of South 24 Parganas while Basirhat may have six of North 24 Parganas. Sundarbans is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is currently spread over North and South 24 Pargana districts. Basirhat is currently a sub-division of North 24 Parganas.

A senior official told PTI that all necessary work to create the two new districts has been completed. "The CM is likely to announce the names tomorrow in Hingalganj during the administrative meeting." They added that the state had to spend at least Rs 200 crore to create each district.

Banerjee started her three-day tour of the mangrove area of Sundarbans on Monday. Speaking in the assembly on November 25, she expressed concern over the region facing natural calamities like cyclones and floods every year. She added that the state government has submitted a master plan to solve the problem to the NITI Aayog. "If there is a master plan, the problem will be solved. I will ask the forest minister to look into the matter more seriously."

She will perform Pratiki Puja (nature worship) at Hingalganj to protect inhabitants from elephant attacks. Several reports of forests venturing out of the forest in search of food have been made in recent times. She is also scheduled to visit Sajnekhali in South 24 Parganas on Wednesday.

West Bengal currently has 23 districts.