A 40 km-long marine drive would be built between the popular sea resorts Digha and Mandarmani in East Midnapore district to attract more tourists, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said.
"The (proposed) marine drive will generate a lot of employment and attract a lot of tourists," she said inaugurating 'Digha Gateway', the renovated youth hostel at Digha, 200 km from Kolkata, besides a slew of other development projects.
Stating that West Bengal has a lot of potential for development of tourism, she said lakhs of foreign tourists visit Digha every year and the government was committed towards developing its infrastructure.
"We have to build a clean and green Digha," she said adding the government was also working for the benefit of the fishermen.
The government, Banerjee said, was building an alternative road connecting north and south Bengal. Besides, the state irrigation minister has talked with Centre and the government would go ahead with the Ghatal Master Plan for West Midnapore district which would solve the flood problem.
State Irrigation and Waterways Minister Rajib Banerjee said the proposed marine drive, which was conceptualised last year after Banerjee proposed it, would cut down the distance between Contai and Digha by 5 km.
The proposed road would begin from Contai, move through Mandarmani and Tajpur and end at Digha, he added.
