India, Jan. 15 -- Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee demands 'national fair' status; administration trying to reduce fair's green footprint

Since last week, an estimated 10 million people have descended on Sagar island, about 100 km south of Kolkata, to take holy dips at Ganga Sagar at the confluence of the Ganga (Hooghly) and Bay of Bengal and pay pilgrimage to the Kapil Muni ashram. The traffic is more than double of Kolkata's population.

Ganga Sagar is located at the southern tip of the approximately 30-kilometre-long Sagar island, which is one of the most climatically vulnerable areas in the country. It is impacted by both regular high-intensity cyclones and a high degree of erosion caused by the country's highest sea level rise.

Incidental...