Himalayas Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

It is unfortunate that media reports provide half-baked opinions and ferret irresponsible reports out as news items which receive adverse reactions from scholars and researchers. One such recent report of July 27, 2015 in the Telegraph... more

It is unfortunate that media reports provide half-baked opinions and ferret irresponsible reports out as news items which receive adverse reactions from scholars and researchers. One such recent report of July 27, 2015 in the Telegraph refers to River Sarasvati (appended).

Making the Vedic River Sarasvati flow again involves a river called Sharada. Let us start with getting the Himlayan, the nagadhiraja (Emperor of mountains -- a scintillating phrase used by the national poet Kalidasa in the first sloka of Kumarasambhava) geography right.

Point No. 1. The Himalayan ranges stretch from Teheran, Iran to Hanoi, Vietnam. It is thus a measuring rod for the earth as a globe. अस्त्युत्तरस्याम् दिशि देवतात्मा हिमालयो नाम नगाधिराजः पूर्वापरौ तोयनिधि वगाह्य स्थित पर्थिव्या इव मान दण्डः Astyuttarsyam dizi devatAtmA Himalayo nAma nagAdhirAjah PoorvAparau toya nidhivagAhya sthita prithivya iva mAnadaNDah - Kalidasa (Invocatory sloka from Kumarasambhava: Trans. There in the northern direction is an emperor of mountains called Himalaya, carrier of water treasure, standing like a measuring rod for the globe).

A vital geological fact to note is that the Himalaya is dynamic, still growin taller by about 1 cm. every year as the Indian plate moves northwards at 6 cm per year and lifts up like varAha, the Eurasian plate, creating the Himalayan mountain ranges. This plate tectonic reality has enormous significance in the geological history of Himalayan rivers that traverse about 2500 kms. -- great perennial rivers such as Sutlej, Ganga, Sharada, Sarasvati, Brahmaputra, Irawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtse, Huanghe -- all emanating from Mt. Kailas, Manasarovar glacier complex.

In Hindu tradition, Ganga-Yamuna-Sarasvati sangamam as Triveni (three river confluence) occurs every 12 years celebrated as Kumbhamela with the largest human gatherings of pilgrims anywhere on the globe. Such a tradiiton cannot be a myth. Ganga and Yamuna are real, why should Sarasvati alone be a myth?

Milam Glacier, the source of Sharada River (known as Goriganga in Nepal), is a major glacier of south facing slope of the Kumaon Himalaya. It is located in the tehsil of Munsiyari (lit. place with snow), part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, ranges in elevation from about 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) to about 3,870 metres (12,700 ft) at its snout. Subsidiary glaciers coming off the peaks of Hardeol, Mangraon (6,568 m), Deo Damla (6,637 m) and, Sakram (6,254 m) on Nanda Devi sanctuary flow from the west into the Milam glacier. Glaciers from Nanda Gond (6,315 m) and Nanda Pal (6,306 m) flow into the Milam glacier from the east. This glacier is the source of the Goriganga River. Goriganga joins the Mahakali or Sharada River at Jauljibi.

Lake Manasarovar. कर्णाली Karṇālī River, Nepal, known as घाघरा Ghāghrā river in India originates on Tibetan plateau near Manasarovar, glaciers of Mapchachungo, at an elevation of about 3,962 metres (12,999 ft) above sea level. It is the largest tributary of Ganga by volume of water.

Milam Glacier is a major glacier of south facing slope of the Kumaon Himalaya. It is located in the tehsil of Munsiyari (lit. place with snow), part of the Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, ranges in elevation from about 5,500 metres (18,000 ft) to about 3,870 metres (12,700 ft) at its snout. Subsidiary glaciers coming off the peaks of Hardeol, Mangraon (6,568 m), Deo Damla (6,637 m) and, Sakram (6,254 m) on Nanda Devi sanctuary flow from the west into the Milam glacier. Glaciers from Nanda Gond (6,315 m) and Nanda Pal (6,306 m) flow into the Milam glacier from the east. This glacier is the source of the Goriganga River. Goriganga joins the Mahakali or Sharada River at Jauljibi.

Origin point of Sharada river: In Pithoragarh Dist. of Uttarakhand, ther is a pond called Kalapani, at an elevation of 3600 metres (11,800 ft.). Glaciers along the watershed of Humla Karnali source the river. The tributary rivers of Sharada River also called Mahakali or Sarayu (a tributary of Ghaghara) are: Dhauliganga (at Tawaghat), Gori Ganga (at Jauljibi), Chameliya (at Jhulaghat), Sarju (at Pancheshwar). Sharada River exits the hill region at Jogbudha valley, then receives tributaries: Ladhiya and Ramgun before entering the lower Siwalik ranges. A dam of Sharada reservoir at Tanakpur diverts the waters into an irrigation canal. The river enters the Terai plains after passing the towns of Banbasa and Mahendranagar (Bhim Datta) and enters Uttar Pradesh from Uttarakhand. Sharada River joins the Ghaghra (Karnali) River, 30 kms. NNW of Bahraich.

A barrage (built in 1920) on Sharada River near Tanakpur (Dist. Champawat) has a Hydroelectric project (120 MW) commissioned in April 1993. Pancheshwar multipurpose Dam will add another 5,600 MW of hydroelectric power. Karnali कर्णाली Karṇālī river (also called Ghaghra) joins Mahakali river at Brahmaghat (India) have hydropower potential of 36,180 MW (economically exploitable 25,000 MW) out of a total potential of 83,000 MW.

Canal irrigation of Sharada Sahayak Pariyojana completed in 2000, irrigates a cultivable area of 2m ha of lakhs of farmers in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Sharada River has a total catchment area of 17,818 km. upto Lower Sharada Barrage. Great heritage sites are: Kali temple (Kalapani), Shiva temple (Singhphal, Dudhwa reserve), Baleshwar and Nagnath temples (Champawat).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharda_River

Making Vedic River Sarasvati flow again involves the following four links of the Perspective Plan drawn up by Min. of Water Resources:

Ghaghara-Yamuna Link

Sarda-Yamuna Link

Yamuna-Rajasthan link

Rajasthan-Sabarmati link

These links are part of the Himalayan component of interlinking of rivers of India and will augment waterflows of Rajasthan Nahar with waters from River Sharada through an aqueduct which will make the Nahar flow beyond Gedra Road, Barmer Dist. Rajasthan and flow upto River Sabarmati in Gujarat.

Revival of Vedic River Sarasvati will occur with the interlinked waters of Sharada River (Hindi: शारदा नदी, shāradā nadī) or Mahakali River (Nepali: महाकाली नदी, mahākālī nadī) is also called Kali Gad (Hindi: काली गाड, kālī gāD) or Kali Ganga in Uttarakhand where the river demarcates Nepal's western border with India. This boundary was established by the 1816 Sugauli treaty.

The river has a gigantic descent from the Himalayan heights from 3600 metres to 200 metres as the river enters the Terai plains. The realizable potential for hydroelectriv power from this river alone is 10,884 MW.

The river enters Uttar Pradesh near Nepal-Uttarakhand border, flows southeast across the Terai plains to join the Ghagra river, a tributary of the Ganga.

1. Ghaghra-Yamuna link Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Nepal

Annual Irrigation: 25.30 + 1.35 (Nepal) =26.65 lakh ha.
Domestic and industrial supply: 1391 MCM. Hydropower: 10884 MW
Status: FR completed (for Indian portion)

2. Sarda-Yamuna link Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand & Nepal

Annual Irrigation: 3.45 + 0.30 = 3.75 lakh ha.
Domestic and industrial supply: 6250 MCM
Hydropower: 3600 MW

Status: FR completed (for Indian portion)

3. Yamuna-Rajasthan link Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana & Rajasthan

Annual Irrigation: 0.435 + 2.442 = 2.877 lakh ha.
Domestic and industrial supply: 57 MCM

Status: Draft FR completed

4. Rajasthan-Sabarmati link Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan

Annual Irrigation: 5.35 + 2.04= 7.39 lakh ha.
Domestic and industrial supply: 282 MCM

Status: Draft FR completed