A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed on 21.01.2022 between the Governments of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh for construction of Adi Badri dam on river Somb in Himachal Pradesh, along with its linkages with Sarasvati river. Storage in Adi Badri dam shall be primarily used for revival of river Sarasvati and development of Sarasvati heritages.

Key aspects of the MoU are as below:

1. Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited shall be the executing agency for construction of Adi Badri dam and its related infrastructure/ appurtenant works.
2. A Committee comprising of Additional Chief Secretary, Irrigation & Water Resources Department, Haryana; Secretary, Jal Shakti Vibhag, Himachal Pradesh; Engineer-in-Chiefs and other representatives of both the States has been constituted for planning, supervising and monitoring of Adi Badri dam.
3. The entire funding of the project as provided in the detailed project report (DPR) shall be arranged by Government of Haryana.
4. A defined part of the stored water is earmarked for identified drinking water and irrigation requirements of the project affected villages in Himachal Pradesh.

Also, Sarasvati Heritage Development Board has been constituted by Government of Haryana for rejuvenation of Sarasvati river and development of its heritages in the State of Haryana.

Delineation and mapping of the palaeochannels of the Sarasvati river has been carried out by Indian Space Research Organization, Haryana Space Applications Centre, Central Ground Water Board and other scientific organizations. On the basis of revenue records, alignment of Sarasvati river and its tributaries in about 200 km stretch from Adi Badri, Haryana to Ghaggar, Punjab has been identified. The discovered river course has been validated by a variety of scientific data and investigations carried out by various survey agencies.

Many central agencies are contributing for implementation of the project in line with the MoU mentioned in as per details below:

1. Central Water Commission (CWC) under this Ministry is working on designs and drawings of Adi Badri Dam, Somb Sarasvati Barrage and Sarasvati Reservoir. In addition, Geological Survey of India, Central Soil & Materials Research Station, Central Water & Power Research Station, and National Institute of Hydrology are providing technical consultancy for the project.
2. Comprehensive studies to reconstruct the fluvial history of the palaeocourse of ancient Sarasvati river system in parts of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat has been undertaken by Geological Survey of India.
3. Archaeological Survey of India has constituted an Advisory Committee for multidisciplinary study on river Sarasvati. The key activities mandated to the Advisory Committee include defining the Sarasvati river and its basin, identifying special items of geo-technical nature for study of the Sarasvati basin, and to identify archaeological sites and areas for multi-disciplinary research.

In addition, Government of Haryana has constituted a Centre of Excellence for research on Sarasvati river in Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra.

This Information was given by the Minister of State for Jal Shakti Shri Bishweswar Tudu in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

****

BY/AS