Rajasthan government sends plan to Centre for rejuvenating 'Saraswati' river

JAIPUR: The Vasundhara Raje government has sent a detailed plan to the Centre for tracing the course of the lost river ' Saraswati' through Rajasthan and rejuvenating it.

Rajasthan's minister of public health engineering department Surendra Goyal said the state government had sent a detailed project report (DPR) of Rs 68.87 crore to the Centre for tracing the route of the ancient river.

The proposal is yet pending for approval, he added.

Goyal, who was responding to query during the Question Hour in the state assembly, said that various reputed organisations had studied course of the elusive river, which finds mention in the 'vedas', during 1996 and 2004.

The minister informed the House that according to certain reports, the river's course has been traced in places like Tibbi, Hanumangarh, Pilibanga, Suratgarh, Anupgarh, Tanot, Barmer of Rajasthan culminating in the Rann of Kutch.

Earlier, legislators had raised questions related to the issue of water scarcity in the house.

Replying to the questions, the minister said that 194 blocks out of 295 in state come under dark zones. The state has 10 critical zones, 38 semi-critical zones, he said.