Why in News?

The Panchganga River water level has been rising and will likely cross a warning level of 39 feet soon.

Panchganga River

• The Panchganga River is one of the important rivers of India located in Maharashtra and a major tributary of Krishna River, which it flows into at Narsobawadi
• The river originates from Prayag Sangam. The birthplace of this river is called Chikhlee Taluka, a small village in the district of Kolhapur.
• The Five Rivers; the Kasari, the Kumbhi, the Tulsi, the Bhogawati and the Saraswati convene at the Prayag Sangam to form Panchaganga.
• It is the beginning of the Panchaganga river and from there the river flows 30 miles towards the east developing a wide alluvial plain in the north of Kolhapur. The river concludes into the Krishna river at Kurundvad, Maharashtra.
• The river, which joins the Krishna at Kurundvad, supports fertile valleys but faces increasing pollution from untreated sewage in Kolhapur.
• The river is crossed by two beautiful bridges, one near the Brahmapuri hills on the north of Kolhapur and the other a few miles east to the Pune Road.
• The waters of all the streams which join to form the Panchaganga are much used for growing sugarcane.
• The confluence of the five river streams is known as the Prayag Sangam. Thus the Panchaganga River has much local sanctity, being like the Allahabad Triveni Sangam. The place is also visited by large number of devotees during the winter.