Centre keen on working for revival of Saraswati river with Haryana and Himachal Pradesh government

The Adi Badri Dam dam would supply round-the-year water flow to the river channel

February 13, 2022

Saraswati River to be revived in a joint project between Central, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh

The revival of the ancient river Saraswati, considered to be one of the holy rivers of India has been on the agenda of the Centre since the BJP led Haryana government has come to power.

The Cente is working on the revival of the river Saraswati and for this, the governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are working jointly on the project. As per reports, the river which disappeared is alive and flowing underground.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed for the construction of Adi Badri Dam on River Somb in Himachal Pradesh along with its linkages with the Saraswati River.

The Adi Badri Dam would supply round-the-year water flow to the river channel. The government also plans to build a project to interlink Markanda and Saraswati rivers through the Kainthla supply channel. This project intends to divert around 894-hectare meters of floodwater to the Saraswati reservoir.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on February 10, the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu gave more details about the project. He said that Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited has been identified as the executing agency for the construction of the dam and its related infrastructure works.

The water stored by the construction of Adi Badri Dam is planned primarily for the revival of River Saraswati and the development of Saraswati heritage. Further, the project envisages providing 61.88 hectare-meter water per annum for drinking and irrigation in Himachal Pradesh.

The MoU was signed in January between the Governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. As per the MoU, a committee comprising senior officials from the two states have been constituted for planning, supervising, and monitoring the dam.

Saraswati river is considered sacred by the Indians as is one among the trio of India’s holy rivers, along with Ganga and Yamuna. As per the documents submitted by the Haryana government in the recent case, around 6000 years ago the Saraswati River disappeared due to tectonic disturbances, impacting its tributaries

[With Inputs from IANS]

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