Scientists, experts and volunteers involved with the Saraswati River Research Project are looking at the improvement of relations between India and Pakistan as ``a wonderful opportunity'' to recreate the past.

``Saraswati is no longer a myth; it is an opportunity,'' said Dr S Kalyanaraman, Indologist, economist and former banker, who now heads the Saraswati River Research Project. The project is a voluntary, non-profit enterprise organised under the auspices of the Indian History Compilation Programme.

Kalyanaraman said that there is enough scientific evidence now to prove the existence of the river Saraswati. Titrium isotope tests conducted by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre scientists have shown that water samples taken from deep wells in the Himalayas and from those in Jaisalmer have the samecharacteristics.

Satellite images, carbon-14 dating and the inventory of over 1500 glaciers in the Himalayas also confirm the paleo channel (path) of the river, he said. Besides, there is a trail of archeological sites along the course of the dried-up river which all point toward its existence.

Going by the ancient texts, there are 76 references to the Saraswati river in the Rigvedas alone, as against three to the Ganga and one to the Yamuna. The ancient archeological sites that are situated along the course of the river are numerous. One 120-km stretch alone has 414 sites, he said.

Scientists are now certain that the river was a mighty one prior to 3000 BC, and was desiccated around 1500 BC. Kalyanaraman informed that according to studies, the average width of the river was eight kilometres and in places, it was as wide as 20 km.

The Saraswati Research Project aims at rediscovering the glory of the ancient vedic civilisation to enrich the country's heritage and to use the scientific data to bringwater to the parched lands in the river basin.

The basin area includes the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat, and the Pakistani provinces of Bahawalpur and Sind.

``To start with, the project work will be focussed on the Indian area,'' said Kalyanaraman.

He hoped that ``someday'' the Indian researchers would be able to collaborate with their counterparts in Pakistan, to bring the entire course of the river under the project.