ADILABAD: The Pranahita Pushkaralu, held once every 12 years, emphasises the importance of pristine forests, which play host to numerous springs and rivulets, in making the river perennial. The forests in the erstwhile Adilabad district are the catchment (action of collecting water) areas for the Painganga, Pranahita and Godavari rivers.
Pranahitha, one of the largest tributaries of the Godavari, covers 100 km through the tiger reserves in the erstwhile district. Several fossils of dinosaurs and animal footprints, believed to be 200 million years old, were found on the bank of the river in Yamanapalli.
The pushkaralu celebrates the bond between the river and the forest. Hyderabad residents A Ramesh and Venugopal, both nature enthusiasts, who visited the Thummidihatti ghat, one of the three spots for the river festival, also enjoyed the sights of the forest in the Kumurambheem Asifabad district. They say the roots absorb water during the rainy season and release the stored water later, helping maintain the river flow.
The entire forest is like a mother to the river as it keeps nourishing it around the year, they mention. If the forests were damaged, the entire biodiversity of the area would be damaged, they add. Thummidihatti is the point where the Pranahitha river enters the State and merges into the Godavari near Kaleshwaram in the Jayashankar Bhupallpally district.