Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said that the State Government has approved a project for the revival of Saraswati River under which Saraswati Dam, Saraswati Barrage and Saraswati Reservoir will be constructed at Adi Badri. Besides this, interlinking of Markanda River and Saraswati River through Kainthla supply channel will also be done.
On completion of this project, about 894 hectare meter of flood water will be diverted to Saraswati reservoir. The dam is being designed by the Central Water Commission.
Addressing a seminar organised on the theme ‘Saraswati River-New Perspectives and Heritage Development’ during the ongoing International Saraswati Festival-2021 being organised at Adi badri in district Yamunanagar, Khattar said that the credit of the progress which is being made in the work related to the discovery of river Saraswati goes to Late Darshan Lal Jain.
The seminar was organised by Vidya Bharti Sanskriti Sansthan and Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board through video conferencing.
Khattar said that all the doubts regarding existence of Saraswati River have been resolved and scientific evidence has been found for its flow and Haryana is globally known as the cradle of Vedic culture.
The Chief Minister said that at present more than 70 organizations including ISRO, GSI, SOI, ASI, ONGC, NIH Roorkee, BARC and Saraswati River Research Institute are engaged in research work of Saraswati river heritage. Based on research, documents, reports, and scientific facts, it has been proved that Saraswati River is still flowing underground from Adi badri and upto Kutch in Gujarat.
Khattar said the Sarasvati Heritage Development Board was established in 2015 by the state government for research and other works on Saraswati. The main function of this Board is to revitalize this sacred river and to highlight the Indian cultural heritage. The revival of the Saraswati River is a matter of national pride related to our rich cultural, spiritual and archaeological heritage.
The Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board has signed five MoUs with various Central Government Organizations for research activities. These include Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, New Delhi, Indian Space Research Organization, Hyderabad, National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee and Geological Survey of India, Lucknow.
Khattar said that the revival of Saraswati River will revive the ancient Saraswati heritage and bring the world’s oldest Saraswati River Civilization to the world. All the 23 small channels and drains falling in the Saraswati River have been named after the Saraswati River. This will increase the importance of the pilgrimage sites of Saraswati River.