State govt plans to revive Vedic-era Dhristavati River
Jaipur: Officials of water resources department (WRD) said Tuesday that the state govt is carrying out a study on how to revive
Dhristavati River
, a paleo channel in the state that is assumed to be part of the Vedic-era
Saraswati River system
. A team from
Haryana Sarasvati Heritage Development Board
(HSHDB) is in Jaipur to discuss this project.
Confirming this, Bhuvan Bhasker, chief engineer of WRD, said, "We are sure that there exists a paleo channel known as Dhristavati River. But we cannot officially confirm whether it was part of the Vedic Saraswati River system. We are carrying out a study to see if we can revive the channel."
WRD officials are relying on some research works of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Central Ground Water Department, and IIT BHU to study the mythical Saraswati River basin. "The govt of Rajasthan has signed an MoU with the City of Aarhus in Denmark to rejuvenate rivers in the state. The City of Aarhus has implemented a few projects related to paleo channels. We will take advice from their engineers who worked on those projects," said Bhasker.
HSHDB vice-chairman Dhuman Singh Kirmach stated that the Haryana board has enabled water flow along nearly 400 km of the Saraswati riverbed during the monsoon season, completing the first phase of Saraswati
River rejuvenation
project. The rejuvenation was done based on a map drafted by ISRO of paleo channels of Saraswati River, he said. "During the flood of 2023, when we opened the gates of Sirsa Barrage, the water overflowed in the same direction as mentioned on the ISRO map. So, we approached the Rajasthan govt to link the Sirsa Head of the barrage with the Luni River," Krimach said.
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