Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati today said the Centre will work to declare the world's largest river island Majuli as a world heritage site.
"Majuli is so beautiful. It has every potential to become a world heritage site and it should be declared so. Though my ministry is not the nodal authority for this, but I will work with others in this direction," Bharati told reporters here.
There were also lots of scope to develop "eco-divine" tourism in Majuli, she said.
"I have already given my consent to become a coordinating minister while making Majuli a world heritage site. The island has lots of scope for job generation and we can utilise MGNREGA scheme for this. Unfortunately, there is very little work done under this scheme," Bharati said.
She said flood and erosion were two major problems of the island and the Centre would do everything possible to protect Majuli.
Bharati informed she has invited all chief ministers of North East for a discussion over flood and erosion problems of the region tomorrow in Shillong.
"I will take suggestions from all CMs. I will see what can be done to make Brahmaputra Board more efficient in controlling flood and erosion," she said.
When asked about construction of dams, Bharati said design of any dam was most important.
"My opinion is whatever you do with the design, the life of a river should be protected. A dam's life is usually 100 years, but the life of a river is a million years. If a river dies, then it is not possible to give life to it again," she added.
On the issue of interlinking rivers, the Union River Resources Minister said any such steps would be taken in consultation with respective states.
