Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Feb 17 (IANS)Saraswati, an ancient river, which finds mention in Hindu mythology, is being revived by the Haryana government at a cost of Rs.100 million, officials said Tuesday.
The Haryana government has decided to revive the existing channel of the Saraswati river, about 83 km in length starting from Uncha Chandana village in Yamunanagar district to Narkatari village by Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal in Kurukshetra district, for a water capacity of 200 cusecs, the state’s Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said here.

The work for revival of the river is already in progress where the old channel existed. Yadav said that land is being acquired by the government in stretches where the old channel does not exist.

The state government has involved scientists, historians, mythological experts and non-government organisations to help find the exact course of the ancient river and contribute to the execution of the project.

As per Hindu mythology, the river, named after the Hindu goddess of learning, was largely underground and is supposed to be joining the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna at Allahabad city in Uttar Pradesh.

Traces of the origin and flow of Saraswati river have been found in Haryana.

Scientists and experts from the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), Kurukshetra University, Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), were invited recently by the state government to Kurukshetra to discuss possible revival of the the ancient river.

It was decided that two wells would be drilled near Kurukshetra for exploratory work so that traces of the river could be analysed. ONGC is carrying out geo-physical and geo-electric survey for drilling the wells in association with Kurukshetra University, the officials said.