Efforts on to revive Saraswati river: Uma Bharti

New Delhi: Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on Tuesday said scientific evidence and information is being collected to revive the ancient river Saraswati which disappeared long ago.

"I have asked the groundwater recharge authorities to collect information, detect and revive the water sources and the roots of the river. Saraswati is not a myth but scientific evidence is now available to prove its existence," said the minister.

She was responding to a calling attention motion in the Lok Sabha moved by BJP member Rattan Lal Kataria on the need to set up a Saraswati Research Institute for “revival of the river Saraswati”.

While a lot of research has been done on the river, particularly in Gujarat, the minister 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 rivers.

She added that there was also a river with the same name that passed through Haryana to Rajasthan and Gujarat and urged members to share any information with her Ministry so that the groundwater sources could be used.

Raising the issue, Katariya appealed to the government for the revival of the Sawaswati river. He said Saraswati river was a symbol of India's cultural heritage and part of the civilisation that grew up in Mohenjodaro and Harappa as it flowed from the Himalayas along with the other historic river, Indus.