By IANS
Chandigarh : The Haryana government will dig deep in another effort to find the Saraswati, the holy river of Indian mythology, in an effort to tackle water shortage, it was announced here Tuesday.
Haryana Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said the multi-million-rupee exploration for locating aquifers of the Saraswati would be started immediately.
Yadav told officials in a meeting here Tuesday that the exploration would be to locate the river for religious sentiments involved with it and to develop a Saraswati channel to utilise its water.
Hindu mythology says the Saraswati flows beneath the earth’s surface and meets the other holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna at the ‘Triveni’ (meaning meeting points of three rivers) at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh.
According to mythology, the river is said to flow through Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
“The decision has been taken to look into the historical evidence and deep sentiments of the people associated with the Saraswati river,” Yadav said here.
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) would start exploration to locate the bed of the Saraswati river in Kalayat area of Kaithal district on priority basis, the minister said.
Scientists and experts from the Remote Sensing Satellite Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), ONGC, the central government’s department of space, science and technology and Kurukshetra University will be involved in the project.
Yadav said the state government would give all assistance to this project, including making land available for exploratory borewells.
It was decided in the meeting that the water supply and sanitation departments as well as the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) would take urgent steps to prevent flow of any polluted water into the Saraswati channel.
The exploration will start in June. The irrigation department has set aside Rs.100 million for acquisition of 20 acres of land at the exploration site for excavation work to find the river.
“The holy river Saraswati, which is said to be the foundation of the Vedic culture which flourished in Haryana will not only be a source of inspiration but also of religious solace to the people of the region once again,” Yadav said.