Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Wednesday inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various projects of Irrigation and Water Resources Department during the International Saraswati Mahotsav-2025 in Yamunanagar. The Mahotsav which began from Wednesday would continue till February 2.
On this occasion, he also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of 29 development projects worth Rs 54.71 crore. These include the inauguration of 15 projects worth Rs 26.71 crore and the foundation stone for 14 projects worth approximately Rs 28 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Saini said that the International Saraswati Mahotsav is being inaugurated at Adi Badri, the original place of the Saraswati River. The Mahotsav aims to draw global attention to India's rich civilization and preserve our culture and traditions for future generations. He said that according to the Mahabharata, the Saraswati River originally emerged from Adi Badri, located below the Shivalik Hills. It once flowed through Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat for approximately 1,600 kilometers before merging into the Arabian Sea. However, over time, the river disappeared.
Saini said that when the BJP government came to power in 2014, they took a major step toward restoring the river by establishing the Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board in 2015. Scientific research has confirmed that traces of the Saraswati still exist in the Adi Badri and Ghaggar regions. Based on this research, a plan has been developed to bring the river back to the surface. As part of this initiative, 18 bridges have been built over the Saraswati River in Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar. Besides this, 111 heritage sites, including temples and river ghats, have been restored. A pipeline has also been laid to channel water from the Som River into the Saraswati Sarovar at Adi Badri.
The Chief Minister said that the Haryana government has signed an agreement with Himachal Pradesh to ensure a perennial flow of water in the Saraswati River. Under this agreement, a dam is being built on the Som River, along with the construction of the Som-Saraswati Barrage and a reservoir. Apart from this, efforts are also being made to channel rainwater into the river in the catchment area of Saraswati river. To protect the purity of the Saraswati river, 25 liquid waste management projects have been set up in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal for sewage treatment, the Chief Minister added.
