Ahmedabad, February 05, 14:34
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.
treams 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