Sunderbans, Ganges and Cox Bazar in seven Natural Wonders list

Kolkata, Nov 13 (UNI) Sunderbans, world's largest mangrove forest located between Bangladesh and West Bengal, and the Holy Ganges have to compete with some gorgeous natural heritage sites across the globe for seven Wonders of Nature's list.

Famous for its breathtaking beauty and the Royal Bengal Tiger, Sunderbans forest has carved a niche for itself when the mangrove was selected by New Seven Wonders Foundation after the selection of seven new wonders of the world last year, which included Taj Mahal.

Lying in the mouth of the holy Ganges, the Sunderban delta is composed of mangrove forests, swamps and forest island all interwoven in a network of small rivers and streams. It covers an area of approximately 10,000 square kilometer.

Altogether 400 places from different continents have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process which include 51 places (highest number of places) from South America, 31 Europe, 30 Asia, 27 North America, 19 Africa and 10 Oceania.

Voting is continuing through internet.

'' It is so exciting that out of 400 places which have been nominated primarily in the seven wonders nomination process, Sundarban and Ganges are on leading positions at this moment for Asia region, '' an expert on Sunderbans afair reacted.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee cast his vote here at the Writers' Buildings recently on the website www.new7wonders.com to nominate the Sunderbans and the holy Ganges as two of the seven 'Global Wonders of Nature'.

Tushar Kanjilal, secretary of Tagore society for Rural Development, was also present at the state secretariat along with Sunderbans Development Minister Kanti Ganguly and Irrigation Minister Subhas Naskar.

'' The Chief Minister took the first step and we request people from both West Bengal and across the country to vote for the Sunderbans and the Ganges to enlist them in the seven new natural wonders' list. These are multinational nominees and it needs both India and Bangladesh to officially support it, '' Mr Ganguly said.

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