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Saraswati river revival: Ambala MP Rattan Lal Kataria seeks ₹100 crore central funds
Ambala MP Rattan Lal Kataria kept his demand for the package during the Budget session of the Parliament on Monday. He said Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Saraswati Heritage Development Board (SHDB) are working to realise the dream of streamline flow of Saraswati.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from the Ambala Lok Sabha seat Rattan Lal Kataria has sought a grant of ₹100 crore from the Union government to help in the ongoing revival plan of the mythical Saraswati river in Haryana.
The three-time MLA kept his demand for the package during the Budget session of the Parliament on Monday.
While speaking during the Zero Hour, Kataria said, “The river has been an important part of Indian civilisation and culture and there is ample evidence to suggest that it is more than 10,000 years old. Several decades ago, the river had gone extinct from this plant and sincere efforts are being made for its complete revival by the state government. There have been discussions on the importance of the river during the Kurukshetra visit of President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla.”
He said Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Saraswati Heritage Development Board (SHDB) are working to realise the dream of streamline flow of Saraswati.
Kataria, a former Union minister, asked for the funds under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) scheme of the Union ministry of tourism.
In January last year, the governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh signed an MoU to build a dam at Adi Badri aiming at rejuvenating the river and the region as a pilgrimage site.
Deputy chairman of the board Dhooman Singh Kirmach said the formal process to build the dam is in advance stage and is expected to be complete by March 31, after which the construction will pave way.
“The dam will be helpful to increase the groundwater level in dark zones and tackle the flooding issues during the monsoon. The facility and four river fronts that we are creating in Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra and Kaithal will promote tourism in the region,” he added.
Efforts to revive the river began two decades back in 2003, when the then BJP-led NDA government had launched the Saraswati Heritage Project.
After being chosen to power in Haryana in 2014, the BJP government revived the project in 2015 and the Saraswati Heritage Development Board was formed under the chairmanship of the chief minister.
