Seven years ago, farmer Arshad Ali started digging a tube well in Charanwala village in the Nachana area of Jaisalmer district, about 50 km from the border with Pakistan. At the depth of 560 feet, he struck water - so forcefully did it flow out that it was impossible to stop it. Today, his fields remain flooded and he has been draining water into nearby fields too.

A year ago, former Jaisalmer district collector Giriraj Singh Kushwaha had requested the state government to plan for utilisation of this water.

In October 2005, the ONGC Board had approved Rs 1.7 crore for a pilot study to uncover the course of the Saraswati, the "mighty river" mentioned in the Rig Veda. By 2007, the ONGC had dug some wells and water was found in parts of Jaisalmer, at a depth of over 550 metres, the deepest level at which wells had been dug in this region.

While many historians and scientists contest claims that Saraswati was ever more than a mythical river, there are those who claim the sacred texts are corroborated by imagery from ISRO satellites.