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Lost courses of legendary Saraswati river, which flowed from
north-east to south-west in millennium, have been traced by
satellite imagery in Jaisalmer district, reports a study.
Recently, interpretation of landsat-imagery of the western part of
Rajasthan revealed buried courses of the river running between the
two ends of north-east to south-west, nuclear scientists of the
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in the January issue of
"Current Science" journal said.
Dr S. M. Rao and Dr K. M. Kulkarni of the isotope division of the
BARC had undertaken isotope hydrology studies on groundwater in
1995 and analysed samples for hydrogen, oxygen and carbon isotopes.
The Saraswati river has been described as a mighty Himalayan river
in the ancient Indian literature (Rig Veda) and several myths have
been woven around its existence and disappearance.
The present study confirms this course has links with the dry bed
of Ghaggar river in the north-east (Ganganagar district) while in
the south-west it met or cut across surviving courses of the Hakra
and Nara rivers in Pakistan, the paper said.
The study shows that the area through which the river bed it traced
supports vegetation even during summer. This shown that these
courses still maintain their head water connection and form
potential groundwater sanctuaries for exploitation.
In the north-western part of Jaisalmer district, in spite of very
low rainfall (less that 150 mm) and extreme weather conditions,
groundwater is available at a depth of about 50-60 metres along the
course of the defunct river and wells in the vicinity do not dry up
throughout the year, the paper said.
The groundwater in the area is rich in stable isotope content as
compared to other Himalayan rivers. Groundwater samples exhibit
negligible tritium content indicating absence of modern recharge.
Radiocarbon data suggest the groundwater is a few thousand years
old. The levels of carbon-14 isotope decrease along the suspected
river course downstream indicating hydraulic continuity of the
Saraswati buried channel from Kuria Beri to Ghantiyalji.
A groundwater velocity of 20 metres per year has been estimated
from the isotopic analysis.
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