Has formulated no scheme for regeneration of Saraswati: Government

NEW DELHI: The government has not formulated any scheme for regeneration of the Saraswati river even as the Culture Ministry has constituted an advisory committee for a multi-disciplinary study of its basin, Lok Sabha was informed today.

"No such scheme is formulated in Archaeological Survey of India at present," Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said in a written reply to a question whether the government had formulated any scheme for regeneration of the river.

"The Ministry of Culture has constituted the Advisory Committee for the multi-disciplinary study of the Saraswati basin on September 16, 2015 for a period of two years," the Minister said.

A meeting was called under the chairmanship of the Minister for Culture and Tourism on July 25, 2016, in this regard, he said.

"Several studies including explorations and excavations have been carried out both by the governmental and non-governmental organisations along the palaeochannel, represented today by the Ghaggar River in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

"Some researchers have ascribed this palaeochannel to the Sarasvati river mentioned in Ancient Indian Literature," Sharma said in response to a Member's question whether the Government had got scientific evidence of the existence of the river Saraswati.