Thus, the socio-economic aspects are very important for water use management. Conflicts within communities in a region and across sectors such as use for agriculture, industry or drinking water are common. Apart from this, interstate disputes between Karnataka and combined Andhra Pradesh arise due to the trans- boundary nature of the river.

We have read about the use of water and the need to look at all the inflows and outflows so that a judicious and fair use of water can be worked out. This could be for a river basin or a village. Such plans and implementation schemes are possible. Hiware Bazar village is an example. Hiware Bazar was selected under the Adarsh Gram Yojana of Maharashtra government for watershed and all-round development of the village. Hiware Bazar is located in Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra. It is situated on the eastern (rainshadow) side of the Sahayadri mountain ranges that run north-south and separate Konkan, the coastal region, from the rest of Maharashtra. Ahmednagar district is drought prone with an average annual rainfall of about 400 mm. The soil and water conservation works in Hiware Bazar were implemented on common lands and on private grasslands. Continuous contour trenches (CCTs) were dug on the hill slopes to arrest the erosion of soil, harvest water and en- courage growth of grass. A number of water harvesting structures were also built in the village - check dams, percolation tanks, and loose boulder structures. Plantations on forest lands and roadsides were also part of the programme. When Adarsh Gram Yojana was launched in Maharashtra, there were also some pre-conditions set for selection of villages. Most important were the four bandis (or bans) made famous by the Ralegaon Siddhi experience. The four bandis were kurhad bandi (ban on felling trees), charai bandi (ban of free grazing), nasbandi (family planning), and nashabandi (ban on liquor). People also had to agree to a certain amount of shramdaan (voluntary physical labour), except for the landless who were exempt from it. The significance of these five ideals needs to be understood keeping in mind the situation in Hiware Bazar at that time the late 1980s. Tree felling and open grazing was common among both rich and poor households. The surrounding hillocks, according to many local people, had a barren look, soil erosion was promi- nent and groundwater levels very low. In addition to this, fodder and fuel wood shortage were common in the village. Though there was a ban on free grazing people were allowed to cut grass and carry it to feed animals.