If
there is one place in the western ghats where mother nature has
bestowed its bounty in abundance, its Vedganga Valley in Bhudargad
Taluka of Kolhapur District. The Place is unique in many ways.
Since time immemorial it has been an abode to saints and soldiers
alike. During Vedic period the Rushis and Munies (sages) built their Ashrams
on the bank of the river that flowed turbulently through the forests
and plains in the valley. The Rushis chanted Mantras and taught
Vedas to the young disciples. It was because of this that the
river came to be known as Vedganga.

Basically,
the whole of Bhudargad Taluka of Kolhapur district is hilly and
backward. There is no industry of any kind in this Taluka.
People are ignorant and poor, but honest and hardworking. There
are 33,034 land holders in this Taluka holding over 63,000 hectors
of cultivable land in their names. They are solely dependent on
agriculture for their livelihood. In the absence of any other
source of income, the only way how their miseries could be alleviated,
is by converting their Non- Irrigated lands into Irrigated lands
and then starting some sort of processing industry. The salvation
dam, as the locals call it, is at Pathagaon. It was completed
in the year 1993 - 94. It is expected that at its present capacity
the dam will bring under irrigation a total of seven thousand
nine hundred and sixty hectares of land of which approximately
15.38% will be utilized for cultivation of cane.
