Planning to convert mythological river ‘Saraswati’ into a reality with discharge of water into its riverbed on July 30, Haryana Government has now announced to celebrate Saraswati Mahotsav at national level next year.
The State Government has decided to celebrate Saraswati Mahotsav in February next year and also roped in those states where the course of the sacred Saraswati river has been traced.
This was decided in the meeting of Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board presided over Chief Minister Manohar lal on Saturday.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister said that all modalities like digging, cleaning and discharging of water into Saraswati river should be completed by the end of this month so that the river which was earlier lost could again flow from Adibadri, the place of origin of the vedic era river.
Manohar lal was apprized that the river would be made functional by releasing water at Uncha Chandana village. Out of the total 50 kms long stretch of the river, its cleaning on 40 kms stretch has already been completed and remaining would be completed at the earliest.
Apart from this, 20 bridges would also be constructed on this stretch, out of which work of 18 bridges has already been allotted. Also, such a system would be evolved so as to completely prevent flow of untreated water into the Saraswati river.
The State Government has chalked out a proposal to construct a dam and reservoir at Adibadri so as to ensure that water could flow in Saraswati throughout the year.
At present, the process of cleaning and digging of Saraswati riverbed is in full swing in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts as a target has been fixed to complete this work by July 30.
The BJP Government had in 2015 decided to restore Saraswati creek from Adi Badri to Mustafabad in Yamunanagar district and set up Adi Badri Heritage Board.
The Saraswati river, considered sacred in Hindu religion, finds mention in ancient Hindu scriptures like the Rig Veda, Mahabharata, Ramayana and others, giving credence to the belief that it existed during those times.
As per the State Government officials, the Saraswati river had dried up centuries ago and had gone missing from all maps. If revived, Saraswati may boost the state's religious tourism besides quenching the thirst of villages located on its course.