(BD)Twenty-four Bangladeshi youths pitch for Sunderbans

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/kolkata-/Bangla-youths-pitch-for-Su\

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Bangla youths pitch for Sunderbans

TNN 26 September 2009, 05:09am IST

KOLKATA: Twenty-four Bangladeshi nationals are touring from Kashmir to Kolkata,

campaigning for the inclusion of the Sunderbans in the list of the

world's wonders.

 

The campaign will go on till 2011, when the new " seven wonders " will be elected.

The youths feel that the Sunderbans spread across India and Bangladesh is the

world's only mangrove forest and can be an important link in fostering

Indo-Bangla relations.

 

From Friday morning, the youths were seen hopping city pandals, meeting people

and campaigning for the Sunderbans. " This is a heritage for both countries. For

over a month now, we have been campaigning for it in Bangladesh. We want to do

the same here, " said R D Dulal, chief coordinator of chokhkhuleybangladesh.com,

a Dhaka-based tourism promotion company.

 

Several other companies in Bangladesh, including the state-run Bangladesh

Parjatan Corporation, have joined the campaign. But chokhkhuleybangladesh is the

only one to venture across the border talking about the Sunderbans.

 

The Sunderbans is included in the list of 28 competing for the seven wonders

slot. The delta forest is competing along with Mount Kilimanjaro, the Amazon

rainforests, the Dead Sea, the Grand Canyon, the Galapagos Islands, the Great

Barrier Reef, Cape Town's Table Mountain and Mount Vesuvius, among other natural

sites in the world.

 

The campaigners are hopeful that the Sunderbans' status as a Unesco world

heritage site would be a big help in generating support across the world.

 

Campaigning in the pandals will go on till Saturday afternoon, after which the

youths leave for Delhi. " We came to Kolkata from Dhaka in a bus carrying a

banner. Many passengers wanted to know what the mission was all about, " Dulal

said.

 

Travelling in a train on Saturday, the members will hold aloft their banner

expecting a similar response. The campaign will go on till October 10, when the

team heads back to Dhaka.

 

From Delhi, the team will go to Jammu and then proceed to Srinagar. They have

planned a trip to Kargil as well. The campaign will be held at Leh, Manali,

Kullu, Shimla, Manali, Dehradun, Hardwar, Hrishikesh and Mussourie.

 

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