ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the institutional and policy framework for rural water supply in Maharashtra, with particular reference to the 'Sector Reform' initiated by the government in 1999. The World Bank report highlights that substantial expenditure is incurred by the Government of India (GOI) on rural water supply during the last decade. But, very little is known on how effective this expenditure had been in providing safe water to rural population. In the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP), effort was only on increasing coverage, with little concern for the sustainability of the technical system created and the resource base that these systems tapped. The Water Supply and Sanitation Department (WSSD) is the state nodal agency for formulating, implementing, operating and maintaining regional water supply schemes in both rural and urban areas. Prior to that, in the early 1980s, there was the emphasis on individual village-based schemes, which mostly tapped local groundwater sources.
