Scientists huddle with Uma Bharti in search for Saraswati

NEW DELHI: With Narendra Modi government seeking to trace the 'lost' river Saraswati which finds reference in the country's 'Vedic' texts, a group of scientists from Regional Remote Sensing Center, (RRSC) on Thursday gave a detailed presentation to the water resources minister Uma Bharti on the existence of the "extinct" river.
Scientists from the RRSC of the department of science are learnt to have narrated all the possible reasons that might have led to the extinction of the river which may be as old as 28,000 years.
As the course of the river and reasons for its disappearance has been debated for a long time, Bharti suggested the scientists form a core group of research scholars and archaeologists to carry out an integrated study to find out all the facts behind the river.
Emphasizing the need to have a "fresh look" at the entire issue through "latest available technology", she said an integrated study should be carried out to locate "Vaidik Saraswati" river using "historical and archaeological records, hydro-geological, sediment drilling and geo-chronological data".
During the presentation, the scientists from Jodhpur centre of the RRSC also stressed on the need to find out the river Saraswati's link to Himalayan rivers like Yamuna in the east and Sutlej in the west.
"Radio-metric ages of river sediment suggest that the age of Vaidik Saraswati river may be as old as 28,000 years. The river was believed to have flourished during 8,000 to 5,000 BC", said the scientists during their presentation.
The ministry has already entrusted its Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) with the task "to test the water of a well located inside the Allahabad fort" in order to trace the source and route of the river.

The first major effort to trace and revive the extinct river had been initiated during the then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's rule in 2002. Though the UPA-I government had continued the search for a couple of months, the entire project to find out the truth behind the 'Saraswati was junked with the conclusion that the river's references in the historical texts were more 'mythological' in nature.
The government had then in December, 2004 even informed the Parliament that there was no official evidence of any location of the river despite prolonged research.
The present water resources minister Uma Bharti, however, on Tuesday told the Lok Sabha that the river Saraswati is not a myth. She said, "There are enough scientific evidences on the presence of the river Saraswati in some parts of the country through which it flowed about five to six thousand years ago".
Stating that a lot of research has been done on the river, particularly in Gujarat, Bharti said there were several rivers named Saraswati which emanated from the Himalayas, including one which mingled with the Triveni in Allahabad, another with Mandakini and the third with Alaknanda river. There was also a river with the same name that passed through Haryana to Rajasthan and Gujarat, she added.