Warana River is a river that flows through the Warana river valley of

Sangli Sangli () is a city and the district headquarters of Sangli District in the state of Maharashtra, in western India. It is known as the Turmeric City of Maharashtra due to its production and trade of the spice. Sangli is situated on the banks o ...

and

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

districts in the western Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. It is an important tributary of the Krishna river.

Geography and course

The river originates at a height of 914 m above sea level on

Prachitgad Prachitgad is a fort in the Sahyadri mountain range in Sangli district of Maharashtra state, India. It covers an area of . Location It is located at on the western edge of Chandoli National Park in Sangli district but easiest way to reach ...

near Patharpunj plateau in the Sahyadri mountain range. The river initially flows from northwest to southeast and then to the east. The river is about 1.5 km southwest of

city, 584 m above sea level. Warana merges into Krishna river at Haripur near Sangli. The river Warana is 70 meters wide near the confluence and is prone to flooding. It has a course of total 158.029 kms.

Warana Valley

The Warana Valley covers an area of 2,095 square Kilometers and is spread over eight

taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

s namely

Shirala Shirala also called Battis 2Shirala is a town and tehsil in Sangli District, India, away 60 kilometres west of the district headquarters, Sangli and about 350 kilometres from Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra state. It is particularly known ...

Walva Walwa(Waḷwa) is a town and a taluka in Sangli district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is also known as Walwa-Islampur Taluka. There are ninety-five panchayat villages in Walwa Taluka. It is 200 km from Pune and 340 km fro ...

Miraj Miraj (Pronunciation: iɾəd͡z ) is a city in Sangli District and also in Maharashtra, India, that was founded in the early 10th century. It was an important jagir of the Adil Shahi court of Bijapur. Shivaji Maharaj stayed in Miraj for ...

Shahuwadi Shahuwadi is a tehsil in the Karvir subdivision of the Kolhapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. As India expanded in 1949, Kolhapur was redistricted and expanded to include Shahuwadi. The Amba Ghat mountain pass on Ratnagiri-Kolh ...

Panhala Panhala (Pronunciation: ənʱaːɭa is a city and a Hill station Municipal Council (3177 feet above sea level) 18 km northwest of Kolhapur, in Kolhapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Panhala is the smallest city in Maharash ...

Hatkanangale Hatkanangale is a town and tehsil headquarters in Ichalkaranji subdivision of Kolhapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Hatkanangale has a close proximity with Kolhapur, Ichalkaranji, Bhadole, and Sangli. It has a railway station ...

and

Shirol Shirol is a historic place also. It was named "Shirol", because there is story behind it. The story is:"there was great war between Shivaji Maharaj & Mughal’s. In that war, the Mughals were defeated & the heads of Mughal soldiers were hanged ...

. The Warana Valley extends between Sangli and Kolhapur districts and its latitudinal and linear extent extends between N'16047 to N'17015 and E'73030'15" to E'74030' respectively. Geologically, the Warana Valley falls in the northwestern part of the

Deccan Traps The Deccan Traps is a large igneous province of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). It is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, taking the form of a large shield volcano. It consists of numerous layers of solidified flood ...

and the basin is on the northern side of the Kolhapur District. The topography is very complex as there are different types of landforms in the river valley. The Warana Valley is located in the transition zone between the

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterland ...

plateau to the west and the

Deccan Plateau The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

to the east. The western region of the valley is more steep than the eastern region. Due to the Western Ghats, the valley receives less rainfall. The rivers in the Warana valley are

seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

and have very little water except during the

monsoon season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

Paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An List of ethnic slurs#P, ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird ...

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

are the important crops grown in this fertile river valley.

Dams and irrigation plans

Many ''Kolhapuri dams'' and some small scale irrigation projects have been completed in the Warana valley, and villages like Varanagar (

Kodoli Kodoli is a census town in Kolhapur district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated between the foothills of Panhala fort (Ranges) and Warana River. Kodoli is well developed town as per all point of view. Kodoli is home to many and v ...

) have developed due to industry. A major irrigation project has been undertaken at Amboli in

taluka and at

talukas in Sangli district. The project is planned to be completed in Shirala taluka on Morna river, while the Kadvi project is planned to be completed in Potfugi river in Shahuwadi taluka. There are many paved roads, district major roads and rural roads connecting the villages in this valley, but there is no railway or air transport in this valley. Kolhapur, Miraj, Sangli are the nearest railway stations to the people of this valley.

Tributaries

Kadvi and Morna are the major tributaries of Warana. Kadvi river in Kolhapur district originates in the Sahyadri mountains near

Amba Ghat Amba Ghat is a mountain pass on Ratnagiri-Kolhapur road ( NH 204) in Maharashtra, India, at a height of 2000 ft above sea-level, This ghat lies in the Sahyadri mountain ranges (Western Ghats) and has picturesque mountain-scapes and a pl ...

at an altitude of about 700 meters. The Kadvi river flows almost parallel to the Warana river. She finds Potfugee, Ambardi, Anveer and Kandra as her main streams. About 35 km away, it meets the Warana near Sagav. When the river Kadvi is met, the flow of Warana becomes very wide. Morna is another important tributary of Warana in Sangli district. The river originates near Dhamwade hill. The river flows south and southeast. The length of this river is about 27 km. Morna valley boasts of large number of

Betel The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plan ...

farms. The river Morna meets Warana near Mangle village in Shirala taluka. On the right, Kansa river is 20 km from Udgiri. It flows to Warana near Malewadi in

taluka. Sharli and Ambardi were the other tributaries of Warana.

References

{{coord, 16.8460, 74.5339, format=dms, type:river_region:IN, display=title Rivers of India Rivers of Maharashtra Tributaries of the Krishna River