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By:

Rajendra Pandharpure

15 April 2025 at 7:55:54 pm

Pune’s drought could dry up business

Water rationing threatens to hit the city’s wedding industry, construction sector, retail trade and livelihoods. Pune : Pune is beginning to feel the economic sting of drought. A 10 percent cut in the city’s water supply has already been implemented, and the municipal administration has indicated that the reduction could rise to 20 percent or more over the next two to three months. What appears at first to be a water-management crisis could soon become a wider economic problem, affecting...

Pune’s drought could dry up business

Water rationing threatens to hit the city’s wedding industry, construction sector, retail trade and livelihoods. Pune : Pune is beginning to feel the economic sting of drought. A 10 percent cut in the city’s water supply has already been implemented, and the municipal administration has indicated that the reduction could rise to 20 percent or more over the next two to three months. What appears at first to be a water-management crisis could soon become a wider economic problem, affecting businesses, construction activity, employment and household budgets. The Pune Municipal Corporation has begun shutting off the water supply every Thursday. Swimming pools and vehicle-washing centres have been closed, while the use of water for construction has been prohibited. The state government has directed the civic administration to ensure that the reserves in the Khadakwasla dam chain, which supplies Pune, last until August 2027. The challenge could become more acute in the months ahead. Meteorological experts have forecast a milder winter and significantly higher temperatures this year. If these predictions hold true, increased evaporation could place further pressure on the city's water reserves, potentially necessitating stricter rationing. For residents accustomed to a relatively abundant water supply, cuts of 20 percent or more would demand a substantial adjustment in daily life. Intense Pressure The economic consequences are beginning to emerge. The closure of vehicle-washing centres has deprived young people employed in low-skilled jobs of their livelihoods. Swimming-pool closures have similarly affected security guards and lifeguards. These may appear to be small, isolated losses, but they expose a larger problem: when water-intensive businesses are forced to shut down, the burden falls disproportionately on workers with few financial reserves and limited employment alternatives. The impact could spread to Pune’s lucrative wedding industry. The wedding season traditionally gathers momentum after Tulsi Vivah in the month of Kartik, generating business worth more than Rs. 200-250 crore. Pune has long attracted affluent families from outside the city who prefer its venues and facilities for wedding celebrations, partly because of its historically reliable water supply. Persistent restrictions could undermine that advantage. Wedding venues, caterers, hotels and other service providers depend on a dependable water supply to operate. If rationing becomes more severe, organisers may reconsider their choice of venue, while businesses could face higher operating costs and disruptions. An industry that generates substantial seasonal revenue also supports a network of workers and small enterprises, making the potential economic fallout wider than the immediate loss of bookings. Rural-Urban Connection Pune’s commercial fortunes are also linked to the health of the rural economy. A good agricultural harvest typically improves rural incomes, supporting spending on goods and services in urban markets. When farm earnings weaken, that spending tends to contract, affecting traders, retailers and other businesses. If rural incomes remain subdued, the city’s commercial sector could face an additional headwind at a time when water scarcity is already threatening business activity. The interaction between agricultural distress and urban water shortages could therefore deepen the economic slowdown. Construction presents another major vulnerability. Like many large cities, Pune depends heavily on real estate and infrastructure development to sustain economic activity and employment. Construction projects generate demand across a broad network of industries, from building-material suppliers and transport operators to contractors and daily-wage workers. A prolonged restriction on construction-related water use could delay projects, raise costs and disrupt work schedules. If projects stall, the effects will extend beyond developers to workers, suppliers and businesses that depend on the real estate sector. Rising Inflation For ordinary citizens, the prospect of tighter water rationing comes amid an already difficult cost-of-living situation. Food and restaurant prices have risen sharply. A cup of tea now costs more than Rs. 30, while a serving of idli-sambar can exceed Rs. 90. Even street food, traditionally an affordable option for working people, has become increasingly expensive. These prices illustrate the pressure on household budgets, particularly those of workers whose incomes have not kept pace with rising costs. If water shortages push up operating expenses for restaurants, caterers and other businesses, consumers could face further increases. The extent of any additional price rise will depend on how severe and prolonged the restrictions become. The working class is particularly exposed. Workers in vehicle-washing centres, swimming pools, construction and allied services may lose income precisely when everyday necessities are becoming more expensive. Unlike larger businesses, many such workers have little capacity to absorb a prolonged interruption in earnings. Pune’s immediate challenge is to conserve enough water to carry the city through the coming months. Yet the implications of the drought extend well beyond household taps and civic supply schedules. Trade, real estate, hospitality and seasonal businesses all depend, directly or indirectly, on the availability of water. The two sectors facing particular uncertainty are trade and real estate. The former could suffer from weaker consumer spending and disruptions to commercial activity; the latter could be affected by restrictions on construction and the risk of project delays. The consequences would be felt across employment and the wider urban economy. Pune’s residents and businesses have not had to contend with water cuts of 20 percent or more on a sustained basis. Adapting to such restrictions will be difficult, especially if temperatures rise and the drought persists.

Kamble lusted for women, animals: Judgment

Quaid Najmi
Jun 30
3 min read

Mumbai: Pune rape-cum-murder convict Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, 65 - who was slapped with triple death sentences and triple life imprisonments - has emerged as a deeply depraved sexual predator who, according to the historic judgment of a Pune Special (POCSO) Court, spared neither women nor animals to satisfy his lust. The verdict records that he routinely "misbehaved" with farm animals and had once even attempted to have sexual intercourse with a goat.

 

Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe sentenced Kamble to be “hanged till death” and awarded life imprisonment on each of the principal charges of rape, murder and kidnapping, besides convicting him under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Describing the crimes as “brutal, inhuman and barbaric”, the court held that it fell within the “rarest of rare” category deserving the ultimate punishment.

 

Hailing from Salwade village in Bhor taluka of Pune district, Kamble was notorious for persistently harassing women and exhibiting sexually deviant behaviour, eventually forcing villagers to socially ostracise and expel him years ago.

 

Depraved Personality

His disturbing conduct towards animals first surfaced in 1996, when he was grazing goats on a nearby hillock and allegedly attempted to have sex with one of them. He was caught in the act by another shepherd and the incident spread in the village like wildfire.

 

Though Kamble is the father of seven daughters and one son, all now married, he was driven away from his family and the villagers after he was declared persona non grata. Thereafter, he drifted from village to village, surviving as a daily-wage labourer, taking up odd jobs for meagre wages and sleeping wherever he could find shelter.

 

In 1998, he was accused of sexually harassing an elderly woman from his extended family and later in 2024, he again faced allegations of molesting his minor niece. Although he was acquitted in both cases, current investigators view a pattern in his long history of predatory behaviour.

 

Labourer to Murderer

Most recently, Kamble worked as a farm labourer by a farmer Sandeep Gayawal in Nasrapur, around six kms from his native Salwade. Gayawal had allowed him to sleep on a cot inside a tin storage shed adjoining a cowshed. From April 25, Kamble and five other labourers were engaged in transporting bricks for renovation work at a nearby Ram Temple. After discovering that Kamble had begun storing his personal belongings inside the tin shed, Gayawal ordered him to vacate the premises on April 30.

 

On the morning of May 1, Kamble left his belongings near the temple and loitered around. It was there that he spotted the victim - a girl aged three years and two months - playing with other children, but subsequent events serve as a grim lesson to all parents who allow their children to play outside but fail to keep an eye on them.

 

The victim and her six-year-old elder sister had come from Dhayari village, nearly 20 kms from Narsapur, to spend summer vacation with their grandmother. Belonging to a priest’s family, the grandmother performed all rituals and managed the temple since the death of her husband in 2022.

 

Incidentally, Gayawal was their neighbour. One of his four cows had recently calved, and the victim, her sister and other neighbourhood children frequently visited the cowshed to play with the newborn calf, which was tethered beside the same tin shed where Kamble had been staying.

 

Black Day

On the afternoon of May 1, the children were playing hide-and-seek around the temple precincts when Kamble targeted the little girl. Waiting till she was left alone inside the temple, he hurled bricks and drove away the other children, before implementing his nasty and lusty plans.

 

Investigators later pieced together, through CCTV footage and other forensic evidence, that over the next 39 minutes, Kamble committed the horrific sexual assault before murdering the child, and again indulging in sex with her body.

 

Meanwhile, at around 4 pm, when the grandmother realised the child was missing, an extensive search began, and other residents combed through CCTV footage. Initially they spotted a man dressed in white carrying a large bag. Suspecting he had kidnapped the girl, the villagers intercepted him, only to discover that the bag contained nothing more than loaves of bread, and he was allowed to leave.

 

Probe End

Soon afterwards, officers from Rajgad Police Station joined the investigation. CCTV footage from a neighbouring property showed Kamble emerging from a public water tank area before approaching the Munjoba Temple, where he was seen taking the child's hand and leading her towards Gayawal's tin shed - the very place from which he had been evicted a day earlier – and 39 minutes later, the footage captured him walking out alone.

 

Suspicious villagers eventually found Kamble sitting casually on a bench near the Kalubai Temple. During questioning by Gayawal and others, he confessed to the crime, terming it as ‘a mistake’ as outrage erupted all over the state.

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