Expert panel says Sarasvati river did exist

A high-level government panel on Saturday said the Sarasvati river, so far considered mythical, existed and it passed through Haryana, Rajasthan and North Gujarat.

The panel headed by eminent geologist Professor K S Valdiya, who handed over the report to Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti here, said, “We have reached a conclusion that river Sarasvati existed, it flowed. It originated in the Himalayas and met gulf at the western sea.” The minister said the government will submit the report to the Cabinet for further action. She also said the report will be studied by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). 

According to a senior CGWB official, Sarasvati passed through Pakistan before meeting Western Sea through Rann of Kutch and was approximately 4,000 km in length.

One-third of the river stretch fell in present-day Pakistan. The longer, two-third stretch measuring nearly 3,000 km in length, fell in India, the official claimed.

The seven-member committee in its report stated that the river had two branches: western and eastern. The Himalayan-born Satluj “of the past”, which flowed through the channels of present-day Ghaggar-Patialiwali rivulets, represents the western branch of the ancient river.

On the other hand, it said, Markanda and Sarsuti (corruption of Sarasvati) represented the eastern branch of Sarasvati, known as Tons-Yamuna.

Valdiya, a Padma Bhushan awardee, said the committee, during its six-month research, studied piles of sediments, their shapes and features which appeared to have been brought by a “big river”.

The panel came across “an unique” palaeochannel (a path abandoned by river when it changes its course) relating to present Ghaggar, Sarsuti, Hakra and Nara rivers.

Historically, he stated, that around 1,700 small and big towns and villages were located around the palaeochannel concerned during the Harappa Civilisation.

While some towns were spread over more than 100 hectares and these colonies were there for 5,500 years, was it possible that these cities could live without water? Which river was the source of water for these towns. We studied it, he said.

In the report, the committee also observed that constituent minerals of the palaeochannels, at several spots, have come from catchment areas of Sutlej and Yamuna and from Greater and Lesser Himalayas.