Making efforts to convert mythological river ‘Saraswati’ into reality for the people of the State, Haryana Government’s ambitious project to discover ‘Saraswati’ river is in full swing.
“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,” said an official spokesman.
A meeting of Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board was presided over by Deputy chairman of the Board Prashant Bhardwaj on Tuesday in which various aspects of rejuvenation of Saraswati river were discussed.
During the meeting, it was informed that the main focus of the Board is to preserve and promote various archaeo-cultural facets of the Saraswati heritage area and to bring water in the Saraswati river.
The water in Saraswati from Uncha Chandana through Dadupar Feeder would be discharged on July 30. Also, all arrangements have been made to get six bore wells made by ONGC in Yamunanagar and two bore well by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradoon at Adibadri and Mugalwali, said the spokesman.
He said that all kind of scientific research which is being conducted on Saraswati river was also been discussed in the meeting. The Board is collecting all such research papers and reports and the same would be uploaded at Board’s website so that even those living abroad could get familiar with its scientific aspects.
Vice Chancellor of Indira Gandhi University, SP Bansal speaking at the meeting informed that there is a dire need to connect Saraswati heritage with tourism. In this regard, he is preparing a concept note on tourism circuit so that this heritage could become a centre of attraction at world level, he said.
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 Rs 50 crore project to discover mythological Saraswati has a saffron connection as it was during the rule of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre in 2003 that an advisory committee of experts was constituted for multi-disciplinary study of Saraswati.
Since the formation of first BJP Government in the state, the Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar, who has been a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) ideologue, and other BJP ministers have been quite inclined to dig up the mystery behind the mythological river, given its significance in Hindu mythology.
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 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.