India, Feb. 3 -- Speaking at a national level meeting held at the Sundarbans on December 21, 2025, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav criticised the West Bengal government for not being able to exploit the tourism potential of the biodiverse mangrove forest. "Sundarbans should expand its tourism. On an average 9 to 9.5 lakh tourists visit the Sundarbans every year while the figure is almost 19 lakh in Ranthambore," said Yadav. The statement led to a series of refusals and counter-arguments from politicians, academics and experts on tourism as a source of livelihood in the ecologically sensitive forests.

Spread over 19,000 sq km in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, the Sundarbans is the world's large...