The scientists are of the opinion that if implementation of this project will be delayed, a battle for water will start between the states within 25 years. Disclosing the outcome of the research work and the proposal to interlink the rivers at a press conference recently here the director of Saraswati Nadi Sodh Prakalp of Akhil Bhartiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana, (ABISY) S. Kalyanraman, said that the scientific investigations have established the causes and dates of the dislocation of the great river Saraswati, which was mightier than the Sindhu.
Due to tectonic disturbances (like the plate tectonic based earthquake which shook Rann of Kutch on January 26 this year) around 2500 BC there was a tilt in the terrain of north-west India resulting in migration of the Sutlaj westwards to join the Sindhu and the Yamuna towards east to join the Ganga.
The major sources of glacier waters were lost for the Saraswati, he said, adding further that the Landsat and IRS-IC and ID imageries, geological and groundwater surveys have eloquently established the entire course of this holy river over a distance of 1600 km from Har-ki-Dun (Uttaranchal) to Gujarat.
The existence of palaeo-channels and groundwater resources within a depth of 30 to 60 meters below the ground have been established by the results of the Saraswati project announced in July 1999 by the Central Ground Water Authority.
There is a possibility of constructing one million sustainable tube wells in the central Saraswati river basin alone to augment the water resources of the region.
He also threw light on the evidences unearthed from historical sites on the bank of the Saraswati. He said that the ABISY has constituted a national-level advisory body of scientists, experts and scholars to guide the process of research work and to the project for reviving the Saraswati as well as interlinking river basin to utilise surplus water for national development.
He said that the ministry of water resources has also made an announcement in Parliament to launch a project to revive the Saraswati and to interlink the Himalayan and peninsular rivers in an unprecedented, grand project involving a total cost of Rs 3.3 lakh crores.
This project will be taken up in six stages. This historic project will be a tribute to the excellence of Indian scientists, engineers and scholars and will involve the linking of the Brahmaputra and the Ganga, the Ganga and the Sharda, the Sutlej and the Saraswati, the Ganga and the Mahanadi, the Godavari, the Krishna and the Kaveri.
The project will transfer waters from the surplus river basin to deficit areas of the country, he said adding that it will be major effort in flood control and also to provide employment opportunity to half-a-million people for five years.
It will also involve the participation of all the panchayats of all the states. He said that this project can be accomplished with the internal technologies and financial resources without creating any inflationary effects on the Central or state budgets. He said that not only for agriculture sector this project will also be beneficial for the defence strategies.
He also threw light on the archeological facts related to the Saraswati and the proposals made in the project and said that the development potential of the river Saraswati by extending the Rajasthan canal beyond Jaisalmer upto river Sabarmati will immensely benefit directly over 200 million people. He said that the revival of Saraswati will take a time of five years while the project to interlink 20 Himalayan and 27 peninsular rivers will be completed within 10 years. He said that keeping in view the threat of water crisis, expected to occur within 25 years the averment should try to launch these projects as soon as possible.
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