The Pranahita River is the largest tributary of

Godavari River The Godavari (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, �od̪aːʋəɾiː is India's second longest river after the Ganges River, Ganga River and drains the third largest Drainage basin, basin in India, covering about 10% of India's total geographical area. It ...

covering about 34% of its

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

conveying the combined waters of the

Penganga River The Painganga River (also known as the Penganga River) is the chief river of the Buldhana district, Hingoli district, Nanded district, Yavatmal district, Chandrapur district and Washim district in the Maharashtra state in India. It flows along th ...

, the

Wardha River The Wardha River, also known as the Varada River, is a major river in Vidarbha, Maharashtra, which originates in the Satpura Range and flows into the Wain ganga river to form the Pranhita river which finally joins the Godavari river. Origin ...

, and the Wainganga River. By virtue of its extensive network of tributaries, the river drains a large part of

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

region in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, as well as the southern slopes of the

Satpura Range The Satpura Range, formerly also known as the Seeonee Hills, is a range of hills in central India. The range rises in eastern Gujarat running east through the border of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and ends in Chhattisgarh. The range paralle ...

in southeast

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

. It flows along the border of

Gadchiroli district Gadchiroli district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is an administrative Districts of Maharashtra, district in Maharashtra, India. The city of Gadchiroli is the administrative headquarters of the district. Offic ...

and

Komaram Bheem Asifabad district Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The town of Asifabad is its district headquarters and kagaznagar as its largest town. It is named after Gond tribal leader Kumuram Bheem. It was earlier part of ...

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. The Pranahita sub-basin is the seventh largest in India, measuring about 109,078 km², making it larger than the individual basins of significant rivers such as the

Narmada River The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

and

Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

Origin

Old Bridge on Wainganga River in Bhandara City- 2014-06-18 13-50

The Pranahita River begins at the confluence of two extensive rivers: the

Wardha Wardha is a city and a municipal council in Wardha district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The administrative headquarter of Wardha district is situated here. Wardha gets its name from the Wardha River which flows on the northern, western ...

(catchment area: 46,237 km²) and the Wainganga (catchment area: 49,677 km²). This junction lies on the border between the states of

and

near Tumdi Hettty, Kouthala Mandal (near Sirpur (T)). Right at the onset, the river enjoys a wide riverbed.

Course

The Pranahita River follows a short course of 113 kilometers, strictly adhering to the boundary between

and Komaram Bheem Asifabad,Mancherial, Jayashankar Bhupalapally districts in

. The direction of flow is southward, unlike most rivers of the

Deccan Plateau The Deccan is a plateau extending over an area of and occupies the majority of the Indian peninsula. It stretches from the Satpura Range, Satpura and Vindhya Ranges in the north to the northern fringes of Tamil Nadu in the south. It is bound ...

. Along its course, the river is flanked by thick forests and harbors rich biodiversity of flora and fauna. After completing its short journey, the river empties itself into the

at Kaleshwaram.

Dams

The Pranahita River currently does not have any dams built on it. However, a water project to construct a barrage is currently underway. This project, the

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally, Telangana, India. Currently the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, its farthest upstrea ...

, has an estimated cost of Rs. 38,500 crore and is a project the Indian state of

Uses

The River is used for water transport between

Sironcha Sironcha is a town and municipal council in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra state in India. It connected with NH-63. Sironcha also spelled as Sirivancha is a important Telugu language center from ages. Sironcha was the center for Telugu lear ...

and Kaleshwaram. It is also one of twelve rivers in the

Pushkaram Pushkaram is an Indian festival dedicated to worshiping of rivers. It is also known as ''Pushkaralu'' (in Telugu), ''Pushkara'' (in Kannada) or ''Pushkar''. It is celebrated at shrines along the banks of 12 major sacred rivers in India, in the f ...

, a festival in Hindu traditions. The pushkaram on Pranahita (pranati) will held immediate after Sindhu river pushkaram, Pranahita river pushkaram assign with zodiac of Mena (pisces).

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Maharashtra Tributaries of the Godavari River