‘Sundarbans was neglected’: Suvendu Adhikari accuses TMC regime, unveils Rs 1,200 crore plan

Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday accused the TMC dispensation of neglecting the development of Sundarbans, and asserted that his government has made a special allocation of Rs 1,200 crore in the budget to serve around 1.24 lakh people in the region.

Addressing a programme in Sundarbans, a mangrove forest area, after an administrative meeting, Adhikari claimed that works worth only about Rs 200 crore were carried out in 2025-26 against an allocation of Rs 600 crore, and that 80 per cent of the fund was "siphoned off".

"You know what the previous government did. The Sundarbans was neglected," he said.

The chief minister said, "The BJP government has made a special allocation of Rs 1,200 crore in the budget...Tenders have been floated for 553 works in the first phase. Work on all these projects will commence soon."

He also said 2,649 projects will be taken up in the second phase.

Adhikari said 1,169 road projects worth Rs 1,406.34 crore have been planned, along with drainage works and the construction of 110 culverts.

He said the government would build five concrete jetties and a RoRo-cum-LCT jetty to improve connectivity to remote islands.

Adhikari said Rs 100 crore has also been earmarked for electric-powered boats to reduce the carbon footprint of tourism in the region.

On the social sector, Adhikari said Rs 17 crore has been set aside for fisheries, and 1,931 people are being trained in crab fattening.

In agriculture, 13,877 farmers will get battery-operated sprayers to raise farm productivity, he said.

Accusing the previous government of misleading people about the proposed bridge over the Muriganga river, the CM said, "I promise you that I will inaugurate it in 2029."