Author: Debarshi Dasgupta
Publication: Outlook
Dated: November 24, 2008
URL: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081124&fname=Sarasvati+River+(F)&sid=1
Introduction: A born-again Saraswati is dug
for Haryana
When the BJP-led NDA government launched a
project to revive the ancient-some say mythical-river Saraswati in 2002, it
attracted much flak for wasting public money in an attempt to rewrite history.
But six years later the Saraswati project has sprung back-this time with the
blessings of the Haryana government, now run by the Congress which was once
critical of it. And collaborating closely with the state government is Darshan
Lal Jain, president of Haryana-based Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan (SNSS)
and RSS state president till 2007.
Last month, Haryana's irrigation department
finished digging up and demarcating 52 km of what it claims is the ancient
river's course in Kurukshetra. "Saraswati is a sacred river of great
importance," says state irrigation minister Captain Ajay Singh Yadav.
"Satellite images have shown its course runs along with the Ghuggar river.
Our goal is to develop it as a proper river. " The department even organised
a national seminar last month-where Jain shared the dais with Yadav-on Saraswati's
revival. The reasons behind the project are twofold: recharge plummeting groundwater
levels and develop religious tourism around the river's course in Haryana.
Ground water levels have touched as low as 150 feet here. Therefore, unlike
many brick-lined canals, the walls of the new river's course would be left
untouched to allow water to permeate into the ground and recharge nearby water
levels.
The 'spiritual' and electoral benefits of
the project could be enormous in Haryana, where the river is often described
as the "poor man's Ganga". "The river exists for us here. All
people want is its revival and proper upkeep. Even the state government did
not doubt its existence. All they asked us was how its revival would benefit
the state," says Jain. The official acknowledgement from the government
with a plan to revive the Saraswati has encouraged groups like SNSS and the
Chennai-based Saraswati Research Centre, who have been campaigning to revive
the river they claim once flowed a thousand years ago from Mansarovar to the
Rann of Kutch.
The evidence presented to the state include
Survey of India maps, British-era revenue records with the river's course,
satellite images showing existence of palaeochannels (dried beds of ancient
rivers) and geological proof of an ancient Himalayan river flowing southwest
through Haryana. "We found very angular dense minerals found in the Himalayas
from riverbed soil samples in Haryana. Since they are sharp it means they
were carried in suspension by a turbulent volume of water," says A.R.
Chaudhri, professor of geology at Kurukshetra University. Subsequently, Vedic
references to the river's locations were mapped to show how they correspond
with the satellite images of the river course.
Denying any knowledge of D.L. Jain's link
with the RSS, Yadav says the river's revival is not driven just by Jain or
the RSS. "There are many others who have been campaigning for its revival.
We are working on it only because we are convinced of the benefits,"
he clarifies. Jain, says his goal is to see the Saraswati flow, at least across
Haryana, before his death. With a cooperative government at the state, that
dream is apparently closer to reality than ever.
