Author: Ravi S. Jha
Publication: www.thenewspapertoday.com
Date: February 5, 2001
The Saraswati river -- the missing
third link in Allahabad's Sangam -- is making a sudden, pleasant
appearance in quake-injured Gujarat. Scientists say shifting of tectonic
plates in the Allah Bund fault area has led to a geographical osmosis
in the Rann of Kutch area, pushing the hitherto mythical Saraswati
over-ground in surprise spurts.
Hundreds of villages in the Rann,
where there was no water till Friday last week, now have streams
flowing all over. Geological experts say, "In all likelihood
Saraswati, the distributary of Indus which had vanished mysteriously,
has changed its course towards Kutch." They say Saraswati is the
most likely source of these streams as its falling point was the
ancient city of Dholavira.
"There is evidence that Saraswati
was a distributary of Indus. And we also know that Saraswati
had a connecting point from Indus that still flows from top of Rajasthan
to Pakistan," a Central Ground Water Board scientist said.
On Friday last week, residents of
Dhrang Godai village - where the epicentre of the killer quake was
located - saw water streams flowing from the ground and informed
officials. By the time the official survey team arrived, the streams
had reached as far as Mundra taluka, Rammania, Nanitundi and Bhatigwal.
The dry wells in and around Bhatigwal
village were suddenly filling with water. In Nakhtrana, Junagram,
Hajipur villages in Banni wastelands too the dry wells were full
of water. Though initially a blue volcanic mud oozed out, it soon
became clear, potable water.
"This a definite indication that
the ground water regimen has changed. This water could be from
those river sources that had vanished thousands of years ago," says
Prof R.S. Chaturvedi, a senior geo-scientist.
Though in places like Maliya and
Surajbari the water streams dried up soon after they appeared, in
many villages they continue to flow into large pools. "It is not
that these regions had no water. It's just that, after the earthquake,
the ground water table has begun rising tremendously," a government
official said.
Now the question these villagers
are asking is will these springs stay. Prof. Chaturvedi says
the answer can come only after a thorough research. "It depends on
the amount of water available in the parent river," he said.
The last major quake, which hit
Kutch in 1819 and measured 8 on the Richter Scale, had created
a mound of earth near Sindri, which the local people call Allah Bund.
