Abstract
This paper presents the ancient historical and glorious past of the River Sarasvati that existed in north-western part of India. The paper also makes an endeavour to identify and trace its course that has been extinct now and reflects on the modes and methods of its revival. Various evidence that validate the fact that mythological river Sarasvati actually existed in past are also presented in this paper. The most plausible reason for ultimate desiccation of the mighty river is due to modification of courses of major tributaries of the Sarasvati, the Yamuna and the Satlej, possibly on account of tectonic movement of plates in Siwalik ranges. A scheme has been proposed to introduce flow into the course proposed after identifying the paleochannels believed to be those of River Sarasvati. An initiative of Government of Haryana in the direction of revival and to maintain heritage of River Sarasvati, a special division named Sarasvati Heritage Circle has been formed. The circle monitors the progress of the project with the collaboration of Central Water Commission, Haryana Irrigation and Water Department and Water and Power Consultancy Service (Wapcos). The proposal and progress made by the Circle has also been discussed in this paper. It is expected that project when completed will be able to not only revive the River Sarasvati but also will also be a big step in the spiritual upliftment of the people of India.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Bakliwal PC (1988) On the migration of Sarasvati river in Thar Desert, western India. Record Geol Surv India 116:77–86
Bhadra BK, Gupta AK, Sharma JR (2009) Sarasvati Nadi in Haryana and its linkage with the Vedic Sarasvati River—integrated study based on satellite images and ground based information. J Geol Soc India 73(2):273–288
Chauhan DS (1999) Mythological observations and scientific evaluation of the Lost Sarasvati River. Mem Geol Soc India, 35–46
Ghose B, Kar A, Hussain Z (1980) Comparative role of Aravalli and Himalayan river systems in the fluvial sedimentation of Rajasthan desert. Man Environ 4:8–12
Gupta AK, Sharma JR, Sreenivasan G, Srivastava KS (2004) New findings on the course of River Sarasvati. J Indian Soc Remote Sens 32(1):1–24
Gupta AK, Sharma JR (1999) Discovering course of River Sarasvati. RRSSC-J/ISRO Technical report, 47
Kalyanaraman S (1999) Sarasvati River, goddess and civilization. Mem Geol Soc India, 25–34
Kochhar R (2000) The vedic people: their history and geography. Orient Longman
Malik JN, Merh SS, Sridhar V (1999) Palaeo-delta complex of Vedic Sarasvati and other ancient rivers of northwestern India. Memoirs-Geological Society of India, pp 163–174
Mitra DS, Bhadu B (2012) Possible contribution of River Sarasvati in groundwater aquifer system in western Rajasthan, India. Curr Sci 685–689
Mohindra R, Parkash B (1994) Geomorphology and neotectonic activity of the Gandak Mega-fan and adjoining areas, middle Gangetic Plains. J Geol Soc India 43(2):149–157
Puri VMK (2001) Origin and course of Vedic Sarasvati River in Himalaya—its secular desiccation episodes as deciphered from palaeo-glaciation and geomorphological signatures. Geol Surv India Spec Publ 53:175–191
Purohit R (2006) Mythical River flowed off Pehowa: New light on Sarasvati. Tribune, Chandigarh, p 2006, December 13
Radhakrishna BP (1999) Vedic Sarasvati and the dawn of Indian civilization. Mem Geol Soc India, 5–14
Ramasamy SM, Bakliwal PC, Verma RP (1991) Remote sensing and river migration in Western India. Title Remote Sens 12(12):2597–2609
Sahai B (1999) Unraveling of the ‘lost’ Vedic Sarasvati. Mem Geol Soc India, 121–142
Sharma JR, Bhadra BK (2009) Satellite imagery and Sarasvati: tracing the Lost River. Article Geosp Today, 18–20
Sood RK, Sahai B (1983) Hydrographic changes in northwestern India. Man Environ 7(1–2):166–189
Srivastava GS, Kulshrestha AK (2005) Neotectonic movements of Markanda and Bata blocks, Himachal Pradesh: inferences from morphometric analysis. Geol Surv India Spec Publ 85:217–224
Valdiya KS (2002) Sarasvati: the river that disappeared. Universities Press
Yashpal B (1980) Remote sensing of the lost Sarasvati River. Proc Indian Acad Sci (Earth & Planet Sci) 89:317–337
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Chauhan, A., Setia, B., Kaushik, A. (2019). River Sarasvati: A Study of Possible Revival. In: Agnihotri, A., Reddy, K., Bansal, A. (eds) Environmental Geotechnology. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , vol 31. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7010-6_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7010-6_13
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-7009-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-7010-6
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)