Looking for ‘missing’ Sarswati, Haryana team reaches Jaisalmer

Seeking to trace the possible route and remnants of the mythical Saraswati river, a four-member team from Haryana Saraswati Heritage Development Board reached Jaisalmer Friday.

The team, led by deputy president of the Board, Prasant Bhardwaj, visited Ranau, Tanot, Kishangarh, Kuriya Beri and Dharmi Kuwa villages of the district to explore possible existence of the river that finds mention in the Rig Veda and other ancient literature and is believed to have disappeared some 4,000 years ago.

Accompanied by Surajbhan Bishnoi, superintendent engineer of Rajasthan ground water department and senior geologist N D Inkhiya, Bhardwaj’s team collected several samples.

Soon after coming to power in May 2014, the NDA government at the Centre revived the efforts to trace the river considered holy by the Hindus. Haryana and Rajasthan, both ruled by the BJP, have separately launched efforts to revive the mythical river.

Talking to reporters, Bhardwaj said that Haryana government has embarked on the project only after collecting all the necessary data. “The Board’s work is based on the evidences and data collected from the ISRO, ONGC, ground water departments of Rajasthan and Haryana, and scientific research carried out in the past,” he said.

“According to the data available, the river flowed through the area that comprises present day Rajasthan and Gujarat. Considering this, the two state governments should join hands on this project, which is related to our culture, civilization and heritage,” Bhardwaj said. He added that the project would go a long way in promoting heritage tourism and water management.

While Haryana set up the Saraswati Heritage Development Board, tasking it with the responsibility of field work closely to be done in close association with other agencies including the UNESCO and Archaeological Survey of India among others.

In Rajasthan, the Vasundhara Raje government constituted the state River Basin and Water Resources Planning Authority in 2015 to help revive the Saraswati and look into various issues connected with river basins, including intra-basin river water transfer. The authority is working in coordination with institutions such as ISRO, Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), state ground water board and national institute of hydrology.

In June, a two-member CGWB team had visited the bordering Barmer district to explore possible remnants of the Saraswati.

Tall claims of Raje government fall flat

Barmer: Even as Haryana government is working on war footing to explore and revive Saraswati, the Rajasthan government’s plans seem to be in a limbo. The state government had sent a detailed project report (DPR) of Rs 68.87 crore to the Centre for tracing the route of the ancient river and rejuvenating it. The proposal is still pending for approval. Also, then minister of public health engineering department Kiran Maheshwari had in 2015 said announced that if Centre does not release the budget for the project by the end of year then state government will release funds on its own. The claim seems to have fallen flat.

Ganga: NGT issues warrant against Rajasthan, Haryana

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has issued bailable warrants against Rajasthan and Haryana governments for not submitting their action plan on cleaning and rejuvenation of the River Ganga.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar took strong objection to the absence of the counsel for both the states and their failure to submit the report despite its July 13 order.

“Nobody is present on behalf of Haryana and Rajasthan…Consequently, we issue bailable warrant against the resident commissioners of Haryana and Rajasthan at New Delhi…They shall show cause as to why the action plan in terms of the judgement of the Tribunal have not been filed,” the bench said.