GUWAHATI: Assam Urban Affairs Minister Ashok Singhal visited the Urpad Beel in the Goalpara district on Thursday to oversee the steps taken to protect the wetland.
He said that the Assam government wants to make the Urpad Beel a tourist attraction and is thinking about making the area a wildlife sanctuary if that becomes necessary.
The Urpad Beel, which spans 700 hectares of land, is about 12 kilometres from Goalpara town and 150 kilometres from Guwahati.
It is connected to two more water bodies, Patakata and Matia beels, on the east, bringing the total area of the wetlands to more than 1,000 hectares, as per media reports.
River Jinari flows from the Garo Hills of Meghalaya to the north and northeast before entering the Brahmaputra.
Singhal told the media, "I have inspected the ongoing beautification work in the surroundings of the Urpad Beel. Golapara has several wetlands. The state government is committed to reviving and protecting the wetlands as part of our mission to fight climate change."
Last week, three cabinet ministers, including Singhal, went to the state's only Ramsar site, Deepor Beel, to check it out. The ministers carried out aerial as well as boat surveys.
Earlier, the Assam government carried out a massive eviction drive in the Silsako Beel in Guwahati in order to tackle the problem of artificial flooding in the city.
Following the eviction, Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, also announced that the Beel will soon be turned into the largest lake in Assam.