MillenniumPost
Bengal

CM reviews Ganga Sagar Mela preparations

Sagar Island: Considering that Sagar Island has the capacity to be developed as a major tourist destination, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a tour of different locations in Sagar Island on Wednesday evening to assess the development work needed for further development of the one of the white sand beaches in the country.
Before setting out for the visit to different places, Banerjee said in a programme at Rudrapur that earlier it was said that one can visit Ganga Sagar only once in life. But the development work that has already been carried out in Sagar Island has changed the conception and more work will be taken up to encourage people to visit the island over and again. She said people started visiting the island round the year and the footfall will increase with more development.
Banerjee visited the beach on Wednesday evening. Chief Secretary Malay De, Additional Chief Secretary of the state Transport department Alapan Bandyopadhyay and District Magistrate Y Ratnakar Rao accompanied her.
She directed the Chief Secretary to take necessary steps to develop Bhorsagar and Roopsagar islands as tourist destinations. Both the beaches are situated close to Kapil Muni Mandir. The Chief Minister gave reference of Puri where people offer prayers at the temple of Lord Jagannath and at the same time visit the beach. Similarly, here in Sagar Island people will offer puja at Kapil Muni Mandir and then visit the beaches. De will soon hold a meeting in this regard.
Before visiting the beach, Banerjee went to the cottages that were constructed for accommodation of tourists. She directed the officials to take steps to construct boundary walls around the premises where the cottages are situated by replacing the existing fence made up of wire and concrete pillars. She also expressed her concern over the delay in completion of the project to construct the cottages. After she came to know that the Public Works Department (PWD) is carrying out the project, she directed improvement of the interiors to attract foreign tourists. She also directed beautification of the area through landscaping. There are also scopes to construct more cottages in the same compound.
Banerjee also visited Bharat Seva Ashram and appreciated the role that it plays in extending help to people.
While addressing the programme at Rudrapur before visiting the places, the Chief Minister said massive development work has been carried out in Sagar Island in the past six years.
Speaking at the same event, the Chief Secretary recollected the poor condition of Sagar Island when he had visited the place for the last time 10 years ago. He said that then diesel generators were used to provide power. "I was surprised to see the massive development that the island had witnessed," he said.
Mentioning what De has said, Banerjee said: "Condition of the ghats at transit points in Sagar Island was in very poor condition when I visited the place for the first time. Now, the ghats have been developed and stress has been given on the beautification aspect," she said adding that roads have been widened and strengthened while cottages have also been set up.
"The Kapil Muni Mandir has been restored and shelters for pilgrims have also been constructed near the temple," she said.
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