MtefS CHAPTER 3

PUNE : A Historical Perspective

3.1 's brief Geographic Profile : 3.1.1 Location: Pune is the largest city in the State of in Western . Nestled amidst the Sahyadri Hills () on the Deccan Plateau at a height of 560 meters above sea level, Pune is located 100 km east of the west coast, at the confluence of the Mula and Mutha rivers. The highest point within the city is the at 800 meters. has a population of over 50 lakh and is the 7th largest urban conglomerate in India.

3.1.2 Climate & Weather : Since Pune is located in the leeward side of the Sahyadri Hills, it enjoys a pleasant climate almost all the year round. There are three distinct seasons : Summer, Monsoon and Winter. Summer is from April to May. When temperature can sore up to nearly 40°C and can get extremely hot. The monsoon commences by June and continues till September. The city gets an annual rainfall of 70 cm characterized by relatively light showers. Winters from November to February, are mild and most enjoyable. The day temperature is around 25°C while the night temperature can dip to even 6°C.

3.1.3 People : Pune has a cosmopolitan mix of people. Although Maharashtrians are in the largest number, the city is also home to sizable religious minorities including Christians, Parsi, Jews and Muslims. Many Iranians have also settled in Pune. Pune has a significant number of foreigners present at any given time. The students' community from Africa, Middle-East, Europe, America makes up a large chunk.

40 3.1.4 Culture: Pune is Maharashtra's cultural capital. It hosts various national festivals and cultural events through-out the year. People of Pune have wide interests in various arts, literature, music and drama. The city has been the fountainhead for many prominent works in Marathi literature and theatre. Both experimental and professional theatre receives extensive patronage from the Marathi community. Pune is also renowned for its vibrant festivals like Ganesh-Utsav, Sawai Gandharv Music festival, Shaniwarwada Festival, Pune International Film festival etc.

3.1.5 Ecology: Pune is endowed with diverse bionetwork and ecosystem, not generally present in large urban centers. It boosts of wide flora and fauna in heterogeneous natural, wetlands, rivers and lakes. Forest lands in the city consist of large areas of hill tops. The prominent forest covers are Bhamburda (Vertical Hill), and Parvati. Pune is the fourth greenest city in India with more than two lakh trees. The city has two Botanical Gardens and around 75 public gardens and small parks.

3.1.6 Other Information : Languages Marathi (Main), Hindi & English Borders North East: Ahmednagar West: Colaba, North West: Thane, South East: Solapur, South: Satara Municipal Corporations 1. Pune (PMC) 2. - (PCMC) Cantonment Boards l.Pune 2. DehuRoad 3. Literacy 71% Population Literate Rivers & Sub-Rivers Main River Bhima Nira, Indrayani, Mula, Mutha, Vel, Ghod, Meena Kukdi, Pushpavati, Pavna

The original name of the city was Punyapur (Sanskrit) which was changed to Pune (in Marathi) and the British 'Poona gaz; II: 211, III: 402, D. R. Gadgil, 1952). Officially, the name Poona was again changed to Pune in 1962. 41 Capital City of : Pune has a long standing history, though it began its urban career as a garrison town of indigenous origin. It saw its epitome of development during the Maratha Period as a capital city of the Maratha Empire. But it was long before the influence of Mumbai's urban pace of life took over the traditional Puneri outlook that Pune began experiencing sudden and erratic migrations in terms of man-power after independence. This immigration speeded up after the 1960s, when the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) was setup at Pimpri - Chinchwad, after a ban on any new industrial growth was imposed at Mumbai.

Looking back from Peshwai Pune to the software hub on the digital highway, Pune is now open to the world. Though earlier, the name Pune brought to mind the laid back country cousin in Mumbai's backyard, not any longer, as Pune is now a global player on its way to becoming a technopolis - a rendezvous of the specialists. Soon it is being transformed into a city of information technology and progress, a location of innovation, research and development.

A journey in the lanes of Pune's past will reveal that it has always been on the forefront as an administrative centre. The foundations and beginnings of Pune started as a garrison and a small market town in the medieval period, but its real growth began only when it became the capital city of the Marathas in the Peshwa period after the 1720s.

Maratha and Peshwa Period : Pune first came into prominence when the young set foot in Pune and initiated a struggle to establish a sovereign Maratha state, though the real progress of the city was caused by the Peshwas who made it their capital city, causing impressive change in living standards, infrastructure development, urbanization and a prominent position on the national scenario of military and political upheaval.

The Peshwas were the architects of today's old Pune of Peths with their ambitious civic projects, thus letting Pune enjoy a fleeting spell of power as the

42 defacto capital of the country with the Pune Peshwas coming into prominence in 18 century. The growth phase of Pune also coincided with the mass wave of urbanization in the mid & late eighteenth century India when the British Government was reinstating its strength after taking over the regions from the erstwhile rulers, the East India Company.

Pune, by and large followed a similar trend of 19th century urbanization and development but, it exhibited a definite caste biased morphological development and a strict social configuration. In Pune of the Peshwa's time, despite the fact that there was no functional zoning and rules and norms were based on traditional purity - (pollution principles), yet some very conspicuous traits of development can be seen within the urban stretches of Pune, developed by the famous "peths" which constituted zones categorized according to their prominent caste based occupational status. Pune consisted of 18 "peths" with a population of nearly 1,50,000. It was first confined to "Kasba Peth", which was the core of the native city. These "peths" bore an unmistakable imprint of orthodox Brahmin dominance, which was exhibited in the frugal lifestyles of the upper and elite classes. The "Wada" as a house type reached the zenith of development during the Peshwai times and was the key factor in giving the city an outlook it bears even today in the old city.

The British Rule:

The advent of the British rule in Pune was the outcome of the British triumph in the Battle of Khadki in 1818. The infringement of British in the rapidly developing Pune brought in a sudden unconformity and disruption in the then continuous urban growth of the city. With the British came a long era of neglect of the native city, since the elite and British folk clustered in military cantonment in the fringe of the East Pune, forming a stark duality of urban development. The erstwhile traditional life of Pune revolved around the "Peths" which had the homely clinging of temple bells and the cluster of houses with narrow twisting lanes, whereas the British Cantonment essentially comprised of the elite Anglo-Indian style urban complexes with clubs, bungalows, neat houses and well paved roads, parade grounds, barracks and imposing 43 administrative buildings.

This was the phase when the settlements started expanding towards the south of the city and some development towards north, along the west bank of the . Having two centres of social and administrative growth, Pune developed two separate cultures, one the homely native "Puneri's" and the other the elite Anglo-Indian "Punah". , Prabhat Road, Bund garden, were the garden suburbs styled after the British styled bungalows in design and ambience.

With the introduction of a railway link in 1856, Pune's importance grew further, with the expansion of military, administrative and academic activities. It gained a significantly privileged place under British rule. The British established the local civic body the municipal council in 1859 and during the same period, two military stations, Kirkee and Pune Cantonment were established.

In the year 1858, the great Indian Peninsula Railway reached Pune and the city acquired a municipality. In the period of 40 years between 1880 and 1920, the growth of the city received a setback due to the spread of epidemics like plague and influenza. Electric supply was received by Pune in 1920.

The expansion of the civil lines resulted in the formation of a suburban municipality in the year 1884. British Land Acquisition Act was enforced. Vertical expansion was permitted in the form of construction of small buildings up to two-three stories the establishment of Deccan Education Society's Fergusson College took place in the year 1896. Indian Law Society's Law College started in the year 1921.

In 1924 New Bridge was constructed across the river Mutha, in front of Shaniwarwada. This accelerated the development of the city. and Bhambhurda (Deccan Gymkhana / Shivajinagar) were incorporated into the city limits in the same year.

1920 to 1940 : These two decades were a period of rapid spatial extension of the city. These two decades saw a building boom in all areas. The underground drainage and sewage scheme began in 1920s, and continued over next 20 years. 44 The municipality worked on issues like (A) Waste disposal for the whole city. (B) Electric street lights. (C) Public transport. The first Public Bus Service began in 1941.

1940 to 1960 : Two decades, after World War II, were eventful. Plots for middle class housing, public play grounds, schools, gardens and markets were reserved. Laxmi Road and Tilak Road were developed during this time. The year 1947 saw partition of the Country after independence. With the arrival of the refugees from Pakistan an enormous strain was put on the city and its infrastructure.

The refugees settled in the edge of the city, towards the more cosmopolitan camp area. The temporary refugee camps became ram shackled colonies in Pimpri Village on the outskirts of Pune.

In the year 1949 The University of Pune was started. Pune was selected for setting up of National Defence Academy. The city got its own All India Radio Station.

The Pune Municipality was raised to the status of a Corporation on 15l February 1950. A number of State and Central Government Offices were also set up in Pune. The Pune Municipality was raised to the status of a Corporation. City got a sports stadium (Nehru Stadium) and a large auditorium (Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir).

Another type of planned development was seen in the area between Deccan Gymkhana and Ganeshkhind Road under the T. P. Scheme. This attracted the professional class, bureaucrats and other civil servants working in the Government administrative offices. One of these colonies is popularly known as the Revenue Colony situated behind the Jangli Maharaj Temple. These also include Koregaon Park and Bund Garden areas, which later developed as elite areas.

3.5 Sprawl of Pune The city developed continuously in all directions along both the river banks as

45 well as in the newly established traffic corridors towards Mumbai, Satara and Ahmednagar. Post independence, the Cantonment (Camp) area became a hub of activity as the bungalows of the British officials and Anglo-Indians soon came to be occupied by Parsis, Christians and migrant Muslims, all communities which had close contacts for business and employment with the British. The new arrivals from Pakistan, mainly Sindhis and Punjabis, preferred to settle in the more cosmopolitan Camp and in the eastern parts of the city, away from its core. The old city's amenities improved with democratic municipal administration in the post Independence period and road widening, water supply and street lightening progressed apace.

3.6 Urban Planning and Development: The first major step towards urban planning implementation strategy was the implementation of the Town Planning Scheme (TPS). During this phase of development after independence due to the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act in 1949, it became possible for the Government to upgrade the existing municipal council to the status of a corporation because during that time Pune's population was more than 5 lakhs. Thus, the Pune municipality was upgraded to Pune Municipal Corporation in 1950.

The first master plan (1952) for greater Poona was a thoughtful document, laying down the norms of planning of the city. A large rural segment was brought into the city limits, resulting in an increase in municipal limit from a

9 9 mere 44 km to 139 km when the Corporation was formed. At this time 15 villages were added to the PMC limit. (Ref. Gazette dated 29/8/1953) , Bopodi, Lohgaon, Wadgaon Sheri, Ghorpadi, Mundhwa, , Kondhwa Kh., Dhankawadi, Hingne Bk., , , Aundh, Wanawadi and Bibwewadi.

First Bombay Town Planning Act was enforced in the year 1954. The process of town planning scheme was started. The city survey numbers were introduced. In town planning layouts land was divided into smaller pieces with access by approach roads. Ownership records connected to City Survey Numbers.

46 In Town Planning Schemes : 05% Land earmarked as open space. 15% land reserved for roads. 10% land reserved for all sorts of amenities.

30% total pulling of land.

16 Villages added to Pune Municipal limits in the year 1959.

By the afternoon of 12th July 1961, due to incessant rains, huge amount of water unleashed by the collapse of Panshet Dam upstream reached Pune, over topping the bridges, and destroying homes. The old city alongside the river Mutha literally crumbled. Following the floods, the compact form of the city dispersed and it began to rapidly sprawl outwards into the county side, especially in Kothrud, Parvati, Aranyeshwar, Padmavati (now known as Sahakarnagar) and Bibwewadi areas. This development marked the first urban sprawl which took place in the earlier sixties and extended to Deccan and Erandawana areas in the west.

PMR - Pune Metropolitan Region The old Bombay Town Planning Act (1954) was replaced by the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act (MRTP) of 1966, in response to the unrestricted industrial growth in the Bombay - Pune Region and the need was felt to have a more integrated and coordinated development of the metropolitan region.

Under this Act State Government established a special area known as Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR) and set up a Planning Authority Board (PAB) for preparation of a new development plan. The regional plan for the Pune Metropolitan Region was sanctioned in the year 1971.

Impact of the Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act, 1976 (ULCRA). A. This act drastically restricted the holding size of the land in the residential zone of the regional development plan to 1,000 Sq.mtr. by a family. 47 B. The lands in the open market as a real estate matter became scarce. C. The disadvantage of this Act was seen after 1978 -1979, when large scale purchases were made in the fringe areas where the green / no- development-zone of the regional development plan is shown. These sales transactions gave new dimension to the real estate market to purchase a small piece of land ranging from 1 guntha (1089 sq. ft.) to 5 gunthas (5445 sq. ft.) as per the economic condition of the buyer. Due to this illegal by-passing method to effect the sales of small pieces of land, large scale development in unauthorized nature took place since 1980 onwards. Here the principle of town planning was not followed at all due to absence of effective agency integrating the development and use of land. No civic services were available and no proper road network laid. Haphazard and sub-standard development was taking place on the lines of the congested part of the core city.

The Gunthewari Act, 2000-2001. To regularize the State Government brought out a new legislation, namely the Gunthewari Act, 2000-2001. This Act gave a new lease of life to all the unauthorized development that had taken place and also encouraged the sales of plots within unapproved layouts and structures thereon. As a matter of.fact the real estate development in the proper and planned manner received a set-back and further encouraged new un-planned congested structures seen in the region. This is because no effective metropolitan development authority was constituted on the lines of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority in this region.

Administrative Zones of Pune - 2001. In the year 1987 Pune City was, for the first time, divided into following six sectors for the purpose of administrative convenience. 1. Pune Gaonthan 2. Shivajinagar, Erandawane, Deccan Gymkhana, Kothrud etc. 3. Parvati, Sahakarnagar, Bibwewadi etc. 4. Kondhwa, Hadapsar, Mundhwa etc. 48 5. Vishrantwadi, Yerwada, Phule Nagar etc. 6. Dapodi, Bopodi, Aundh etc.

In the year 2001, with a view to analyze and administer the sprawl of Pune City, the area was divided into 14 zones based on the earlier 6 administrative wards. Further, to quantify the sprawl, the villages, which were then merged with Pune Municipal Corporation, were also taken into the consideration. These zones are as follows :

1. Aundh : Aundh ITI, Rajbhavan, Pashan, Sutarwadi, - , Aundhgaon, Pune University, Bopodi, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.

2. Karve Road: Shankarrao More Vidyalay, Rambaug Colony, Kishkindha Nagar, Ramkrishna Paramhans Nagar, Ved Bhavan, Mahatma Society, Vanaz Co., Yeshwantrao Chavan Natya Griha, Ideal Colony.

3. Ghole Road: Kamalnayan Bajaj Garden, Agriculture College, Chatushringi Temple, Model Colony, Modern College, PMC Bhavan, Fergusson College, Dr. Homi Bhabha Hospital, Gokhale Nagar, Law College, Deccan Gymkhana.

4. Warje & Karve Nagar: Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Major Tathawade Udyan, Kothrudgaon, Happy Colony, Dahanukar Colony, Warje Jalashuddhikaran Prakalpa, Popular Nagar, Warje Malwadi, Maharshi Karve Nagar, Hingne Stree Shikshan Sanstha.

5. Dhole Patil Road : Dr. Naidu Hospital, Bund Garden, Wadia College, Koregaon Park, Mundhwagaon, Vikas Nagar Ghorpadi, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Udyan, Sasoon Hospital, Juna Bazar. 49 6. : Lohgaon Air Port, Kharadigaon, Infotech Park, Sundarabai Marathe Vidyalay, , Ramwadi, Agakhan Palace, Don Bosco High School, Nagpur Chawl.

7. Sangamwadi: Dhanori, Vidyanagar, Lohgaon, Tingrenagar Pumping Station, Kalas, Vishrantwadi, Nanasaheb Parulekar Vidyalay, Yerawada Prison Press, Phulenagar - Yerawada, Netaji Subhashchandra Vidyalay, Yerawadagaon, Parna Kuti, Yerawada Hotmix Plant, Deccan College.

8. Bhawani Peth: Kamala Nehru Hospital, Tilak Ayurved College, Rajewadi, Harkanagar, General Arunkumar Vaidya Stadium, Doke Talim, Swami Samarth Mandir - Ganesh Peth, Ghorpade Udyan, Mahatma Phule Smarak, Ekbote Colony, Gurunanak Nagar.

9. Kasba - Vishrambaugwada : Kasba Ganpati, Shaniwarwada, New English School Ramanbaug, Rajendra Nagar, Vishrambaugwada, Mahatma Phule Mandai, City Post, Ganesh Peth Gurudwara, Dr. Kotnis Hospital, Renuka Swaroop Prashala, S. P. College, Subhash Nagar, Panchahaud Mission.

10. Tilak Road : Parvati Gaon, Parvati Water Works, Dandekar Bridge, Dattawadi, P. L. Deshpande Udyan, Janata Vasahat, Anandnagar, Hingne Kh., Vitthalwadi, Vadgaon Dhairy, Vadgaon Bk, Manikbaug.

11. Sahakarnagar: Salisbury Park, Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Parvati Darshan, Shahu College, Parvati Indl. Estate, Maharshi Nagar, Chatrapati Shivaji Marketyard, DAD Colony, Shankar Maharaj Math, Padmavati, Aranyeshwar, Taljai Nagar.

50 12. Hadapsar: - Hadapsar, Hadapsar Indl. Estate, St. Patric Town, Wanwadigaon, Ramtekadi, Hadapsargaon, Gliding Centre, Sadhana Vidyalay, Satavwadi, Kale Borate Nagar, Mohmmadwadi.

13. Bibwewadi: Mahdaji Shinde Chatri, Kondhwa Kh., NIBM, Mithanagar, Bibwewadigaon, Sukhsagarnagar, VIT - Bibwewadi, Kondhwa Bk.

14. Dhankawadi: Chavannagar, Dhankawadi, Pathar, Dhankawadigaon, Chaitanyanagar - Dhankawadi, Balajinagar, Katrajgaon, Rajiv Gandhi Prani Sangrahalaya, , Aagam Mandir - .

The city had 75 electoral wards in 1981. In 1991 the same increased to 85. In 1995 the city had 124 electoral wards. In 2001 PMC introduced the/ concept of administrative wards and to begin with there were 14 zones as listed above and 148 electoral wards since then.

3.7 Pune - An Industrial City: 1. The City's traditional character - an academic - cum - administrative centre heralded a change in Pune's role to that of an industrial city. This occurred through the rapid improvement of infrastructure, particularly road constructions and widening, growth of public transport and improvement in health care, the control of epidemics etc.

2. In 1961, MIDC was established and was and still is a supplier of the land to industrial giants in the nearby areas. In 1960 and 1962, small pockets and parts of villages like Katraj, Dhankawadi, Dapodi, Lohgaon, etc. were added to increase the area within the PMC limits to 138.85 sq. kms. During this period, the development was very haphazard and thus, to control this development and provide better facilities to the dwellers of Pune Municipal Corporation, the decision of including the fringe area under the jurisdiction of PMC was taken.

51 3. The decision to restrict further industrial growth in Bombay also pushed industrialization and the industrial units towards Pune. Pune's proximity and communication links with Bombay, its climate, educated and skilled workforce and the availability of basic infrastructure made it an obvious choice for the location of new industries. This is substantiated by the following organizations. Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd. at Khadki (1946) • Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd. at Pimpri (1953) • Ruston & Hornsby • Cooper Engineering Works • Buckau-Wolf (German) • Atlas Copco (Swedish) • Alfa Laval (Swedish) • Sandvik Asia (Swedish) • KSB Pumps

4. Thereafter, Telco, Bajaj Auto, Mahindra and Kinetic Engineering and other multinationals like Philips India, put Pune on the industrial map of the Country in 1970-1980s. This was all on north-west of the city, in the Pimpri - Chinchwad - industrial belt along the Bombay Pune Highway.

To the east, on Ahmednagar road are the engineering Industries at Sanaswadi and Ranjangaon. Towards the south are industries coming up along the Satara road, while within the city the same are concentrated along Karve Road, Shankarsheth Road, Parvati and Gultekadi areas.

Present Scenario - 2008-09 : Today the city is known as the industrial educational and cultural capital of the state of Maharashtra. According to the 2001 census, Pune^s_ pj)p_ulation_ had crossed 25,00,000, on account of the large influx of IT professionals in the city, after the liberalization of the economy in 1993.

Pune is a strong contender for cyber and Software development and competes

52 with Bangalore and Hyderabad as an outsourcing hub with a large number of IT parks and BPOs.

Several National and Multinational companies have chosen Pune to base their operations and have tide-up with local companies. The electronic and software. industry has flourished due to the availability of trained and capable manpower in plenty. The software development parks, 100% export oriented units, National Information Centre and C-DAC have created excellent infrastructure, which is at the real core of the software industry.

The development of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) at Hinjewadi, International Convention Centre (ICC) - country's only composite business centre getting ready along the Senpati Bapat road and the construction of International Airport at Chakan will sustain the industrial boom.

More and more Mumbaikars are buying properties in Aundh, Baner, Pashan and Pirangut areas for their proximity to Pune - Mumbai express way, while those looking for cosmopolitan neighbourhood are investing in , Wanwadi, Lullanagar, Kalyaninagar, Boat Club Road areas and extensions of Koregaon Park.

With the advent of automobiles on a larger scale and their affordability by the middle-income group the city started spreading rapidly. Within three decades, Pune the cycle city has become an automobile city with the increase of over 10 lakhs of two wheelers and 2.73 Lakhs cars between 1970 and 2006.

Growing number of Vehicles brought in Pune City : iType 1991 1995 2000 2006 Total Two Wheelers 1,10,588 3,86,971 6,09,497 10,18,346 Total Cars 23,953 36,171 66,475 1,46,595 Source : Regional Transport Office

Because of a poor public transport, the city is now crowded with two wheelers, cars, buses, tempos, Piaggos and six seaters and is getting more polluted. The report tabled in the Indian Parliament stated that Pune is positioned as the 13' most polluted city in India. (Source : Times of India, dated 23rdAugust, 2005) 53 The city skyline was changed with high rise buildings and ornamental style of architecture was reinforced. Pune acquired as good as 26 malls + multiplexs and 25 star hotels.

Pune's potential to provide jobs has earned Pune rank one in the educational field, with nine universities and 18 plus Research and Allied Institutes including some foreign universities and a number of good Business Schools. Pune is a favourite destination of parents from all over the country, who send their wards to Pune not just for education alone but even for exposure to the corporate culture and a better quality of life.

3.8.1 Defense Hub 1. National Defence Academy (NDA) 2. Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) 3. College of Military Engineering (CME) 4. Army Institute of Physical Training (AIPT) 5. Defence Institute of Armament Technology, Khadakwasala (DIAT) 6. Army Institute of Technology, Dighi (AIT) 7. High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) 8. Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE)

3.8.2 Research Laboratories 1. National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) 2. Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA) 3. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) 4. Central Water & Power Research Station (CWPRS) 5. National Institute of Virology (NIV) 6. National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) 7. Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) 8. National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) 9. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) 10. Agharkar Research Institute 11. Indian Institute of Science Education and Research 12. Tata Research Development Centre 13. National Information Centre (NIC)

3.8.3 Educational Institutes 1. National Water Academy (NWA) 2. University of Pune

54 3. Deccan College 4. College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) 5. Symbiosis Institute of Business Management (SIBM)

3.8.4 Professional Bodies 1. Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Pune Chapter (ICSI) 2. Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Pune Chapter (ICAI) 3. Indian Water Resources Society, Pune Chapter (IWRS) 4. Indian Medical Association (IMA) 5. National Institute of Banking Management (NIBM) 6. National Insurance Academy (NIA) 7. Institute of Engineers India, Pune Chapter (IEI) 8. Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (IC WA)

The city is no more looked upon as a pensioners' paradise but provides a host of opportunities for education and employment and a prosperous life. Recent Eco-Pulse study 2008 of Assocham has declared that "Pune" is at 7th rank after the 6 metros in India. Pune could achieve this in competition with the other three cities in the race viz. Lucknow, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad.

3.9 Pune's Strengths and Weaknesses : Strengths Weaknesses 1. Educational Institutes : 1. Literacy : Pune ranks 1st with 9 Universities, about Lucknow stands first in literacy and Pune 100 Institutes and 6 Research and is 3rd. Development Institutes in its vicinity.

2. Commercial Development: 2. Rail / Road & Air Transport Links : Pune has as good as 26 Malls + Multiplex Although Pune a Railway Junction which and 25 Star Hotels. (Ahmedabad is No. 2 connects south and north by rail route and with 25 Malls + Multiplex and 17 Hotels) has 1 International Airport and is also connected to 3 National Highways, Pune is lagging behind in getting a rail route connecting east and west. Therefore, Pune stands 3r in this category.

3. Housing Development: 3. Cost of Living : Pune gets 1st preference so far as Here again Pune is at 3rd place. residential accommodation is concerned. Ahmedabad stands 1st and Lucknow A great deal of prestigious housing No. 2. complexes have already been completed and some are under construction. Even

55 foreign investors give 1st preference to Pune from investment point of view.

4. Job Opportunities : 4. Financial Services : Pune is 1st on this front by retaining In-spite of good network of co-operative 32.74% share in employment banks and patpedhis, commercial banks, opportunities, including IT Sector, stock exchange, stock brokers etc. and Production, Engineering and other fields. operational transparency in respect of (Ahmedabad stands No. 2 with 20.67% financial transactions, Pune lags behind in share in Employment opportunities.) so far as services available to the end customers. Here Luncknow stands 1st.

5. Trade Environment: Pune offers most congenial atmosphere to trade, professions and industry. It reflects positive attitude and appropriate Government Policies to suit the development. Pune therefore, retains its claim to the 1st place.

Another most important and clear advantage that Pune enjoys is its proximity to Mumbai and its international airport. The credit goes to the six-lane express way, because of which the drive from Mumbai to Pune has come down to barely 2 hours. The Pune's skyline has been witnessing enormous changes over the last few years. Bungalows and 3-4 storied low-raised buildings are now giving way to multistoried structures. Pune which used to be a pensioner's paradise, has metamorphosed into a mini concrete jungle.

With BPOs turning it into a rapidly maturing business centre, the IT sector booming, malls spreading new life styles and culture and creating new heights in retailing as companies fiercely compete for a slice of Pune's pie. The proposal for an international airport near Chakan on Pune - highway thus comes as the final icing on the cake. Pune has attracted migrants because of good living conditions provided by its environment. All in all Pune is described as a good place to work in and a great place to live!

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