The BJP government in Haryana has changed the name of Mustafabad village in Yamunanagar district to Saraswati Nagar. A notification in this regard was issued by the revenue department on February 2 after approval from the Union ministry of home affairs.
The village is located about 20 kms from the district headquarters and officials say an old dried-up riverbed of Saraswati river existed near the village, a claim, they say, is substantiated by revenue records.
Traces of Saraswati river, which found mention in Rig Veda, were reportedly found at various places in Haryana earlier. Water trickling from a hill at Adi Badri — christened as Saraswati Udgam Sthal (point of origin) — was cordoned off by the forest department. Also, a buried riverbed was found at Bhor Sayidan village in Kurukshetra some years ago.
The BJP government in 2015 decided to restore Saraswati creek from Adi Badri to Mustafabad in Yamunanagar district and set up Adi Badri Heritage Board. In May 2015, aquifers were discovered during the excavation of the alignment of the underground channel of the river at Mugalwali village.
The source and fate of the Saraswati river has generated a plenty of debates worldwide. While a majority of Indian authors, including leading geologists, hold the view that the origin of river Saraswati was Himalayas, there are some who differ.
The project to discover Saraswati has a definite saffron connection as it was during the rule of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in 2003 that an advisory committee of experts was constituted for multi-disciplinary study of Saraswati. Its charter was to locate source of river, define its course and identify items for geo-technical study and archaeological research. The committee then recommended setting up of Saraswati Heritage Project that was launched by then Union tourism and culture minister Jagmohan. The project though was shelved after the Congress-led UPA came to power in 2004.
Source : Hindustan Times
