This study by the Subhash B Bhagwat, the Visiting Fulbright Scholar to ACWADAM deals with economic issues in the management of water resources in the drought prone Pune district of Maharashtra. The situation in Pune city is intimately connected to the situation in Pune district. Likewise, the state and national policies and conditions ultimately determine what happens in individual districts or towns. Even then there is plenty of room for cities and districts to influence their own fate with respect to water and the related issues. Therefore, this report focuses on the district of Pune and Pune City but only in the context of and in conjunction with the state of Maharashtra and to some extent India itself.
In summary, many of the actions required to deal with the water issues in Pune district can and should be taken at the district level, even though they would have to be replicated everywhere in the state if the economic competitiveness of the district and the state is to be maintained. Some of the steps required to achieve this goal can be presented as follows: