Yogi government plans to revive ‘dead’ rivers in UP

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government is set to start working on the revival of rivers that have “died” over a period of time. According to UP irrigation minister Dharampal Singh, rivers like Saraswati, Arel and Sai that have dried up over the decades, would be revived by filling them with water through canals.

He said a survey would be carried out soon by department officials to ascertain the rivers that once flowed, but have vanished over a period of time. Once a river has been identified for revival, it would be filled with water from big canals.

The minister confirmed that he was planning to revive even the invisible Saraswati river, but admitted that there has been no discussion on it.

“People claim that the Saraswati is a mythical river, but scientists have found evidence of it having existed. It is possible that like other rivers, Saraswati too may have dried up over the years. We will get a survey done on this before we draw up a plan for revival,” he said.

The minister said that the Centre had constituted a panel headed by eminent geologist K.S. Valdiya to find out whether the mythological Saraswati actually existed. The committee had said in its report in 2016 that the river did exist.

Dharampal Singh further said that the UP government also plans to revive small rivers like Arel that flowed from places like Chandausi and Bareilly in Rohilkhand region. “We will also revive the Sai river that passes through Unnao, Hardoi and Lucknow,” he said. There is also plan to link rivers in the state to reduce the adverse impact of floods. The Sai is a tributary of the almost-dry Gomti.