Haryana Art and Cultural Affairs Minister, Kavita Jain on Wednesday said that the State Government is working in a mission mode for the revival and rejuvenation of Saraswati river, which she described as a national heritage of India.
The State Government has now roped in national agencies like Indian Space Research Organisation, National Institute of Hydrology and Geological Survey of India to speed up work in this direction, said Jain while speaking after the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) for the investigation of Palaeo-channel and study of hydrological aspects relating to Saraswati river rejuvenation and heritage development projects here.
While congratulating the Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) for entering into this agreement, Jain exhorted them to take up these MOUs as a mission so as to realise the vision of the State Government to give recognition to river Saraswati at international level.
She said that it was a matter of pride that Adi Badri in Haryana is the origin point of this river adding that in the ancient times, our Vedas were also written at the river banks. The Saraswati river after passing through Haryana submerged in Rajasthan, she added.
Jain expressed her gratitude to Chief Minister, Manohar lal for showing interest and enthusiasm in the revival and rejuvenation of Saraswati river and also for setting up Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board (HSHDB).
While expressing concern over the depleting lever of water, she said that in present circumstances when the water level is depleting constantly, issues like water management and hydrological analysis for the construction of balancing reservoir assumes special significance. She also stressed the need to prepare a mechanism for the storage of rain water and its optimum utilization.
The Minister said that the State Government has taken various steps for proper management of water in the state so as to ensure a better future for the coming generations.
Saraswati river is part of our rich cultural heritage, she said while adding that coordinated efforts are needed for its revival that would go a long way in making India Vishvaguru once again.
She also lauded the efforts of ISRO in this direction and said that the organization has been working on Sarawati river for the last 20 years.
Earlier, speaking on this occasion, deputy chairman of HSHDB, Prashant Bhardwaj said that ISRO has prepared GIS data base of Saraswati Palaeochannels. This project was started in the year 1999 and after continuous efforts of 19 years, ISRO is in the process of hosting of a special web portal on Vedic Saraswati river on Bhuvan platform.
The MoU between HSHDB and ISRO has been signed for Saraswati Palaeo channel study in Haryana with development of web GIS portal. The MoU envisaged customizing specific geospatial solutions for multi-disciplinary GIS database and design and development of web portal ‘Saraswati Palaeochannel’ for Decision Support System.
The other objectives of the MoU included exchange of information of Saraswati Palaeochannels, carry out geospatial analysis in project mode based on the request from HSHDB, organization of GIS data base of Saraswati Palaeochannles with collateral data including archaeological and heritage sites, drilling data and hydro-geological data and capacity building for the officials of HSHDB.
The water balance study of Saraswati river catchment would be done using Hydro-geological modeling and geospatial techniques. This would be carried out in four phases from the year 2018 to 2020, Kavita Jain informed.
The Minister said that the Tripartite agreement between HSHDB, Haryana Irrigation and Water Resources Department, NIH has been signed for hydrological aspects of Saraswati River Rejuvenation and Heritage Development Project.
The hydrological aspects of Detailed Project Report (DPR) is being prepared by the WAPCOS, whereas, hydrological aspects of study report related to Geological and Geotechnical investigation of Dam at Adi Badri being carried by the Geological Survey of India (GSI).
The other objective of the MoU is the l-section computation of the Heritage Development of Saraswati river as finalized by the Irrigation Department, Haryana and to carry out hydrological analysis for construction of balancing reservoir downstream of Adi Badri, the Minister added.