More research needed to locate extinct Saraswati River: Uma Bharti

New Delhi: Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti stressed on the need for more research to locate the mythological Saraswati River, on Thursday.

Speaking to group of scientists, archaeologists and research scholars, she said that an integrated study should be carried out for this purpose with information like historical and archaeological records, hydro-geological, sedimentological, drilling and geochronological data, a press release said here.

She also suggested formation of a core group of scientists, archaeologists and research scholars to fulfil the task, it added.

Earlier, a group of scientists from Regional Remote Sensing Centre, Department of Space, Jodhpur made a detailed presentation to the Minister on the existence of "extinct" Saraswati. The course of the river and reasons for its disappearance had been debated for a long time, necessitating a fresh look through latest available technology.

The mythological Saraswati has been linked to the Himalayan rivers like Yamuna in the east and Sutlej in the west.

Radiometric ages of river sediment suggest that the age of Saraswati River may be as old as 28,000 years. The river was believed to have flourished during 8,000 to 5, 000 BC.