GUWAHATI: Assam has proposed a ₹796.88-crore initiative to restore the state's degraded wetlands, or beels, and turn them into hubs of sustainable fisheries and rural livelihoods, on Wednesday, August 12, after a review meeting chaired by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Kaushik Rai.
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The Assam Sustainable Wetland and Integrated Fisheries Transformation (SWIFT) Project, to be financed by the Asian Development Bank, aims to cover at least 102 beels across the state, with 71 wetlands spread over 23 districts already identified for the first phase of intervention.
The project will take an integrated approach, combining wetland restoration with fisheries development. Planned interventions include reviving river-connectivity channels, introducing climate-resilient fisheries management practices, and boosting production of quality fish seed and feed. It will also promote community-run fisheries enterprises, support women-led self-help groups, and encourage rural entrepreneurship alongside biodiversity conservation and eco-tourism.
A key component will be strengthening the fisheries value chain by upgrading hatcheries, nurseries, rearing ponds and feed mills, infrastructure officials say will help fishing communities earn alternate incomes during fishing-ban periods while improving overall productivity and household earnings.
Officials described the project as an attempt to bring wetland conservation, climate resilience, women's empowerment and community-based governance under one framework, positioning it as a contributor to the state government's "Viksit Assam" development vision.
The meeting was attended by ARIAS Society Managing Director Virendra Mittal, Director of Fisheries Gauri Sankar Das, and senior officials from the Fisheries Department and ARIAS Society.
