Archives: People

Er. Ashwin B. Pandya is the former Chairman of the Central Water Commission (CWC) and recently retired as the Secretary General of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).

Er. Pandya, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi, has over 40 years of professional experience in water resources and irrigation planning, design, implementation, and financing. He has a sound knowledge of various aspects of irrigation and drainage engineering with a strong competence of leveraging technologies in core areas, especially Information Technology. He specialises in the design of dam and underground structures and related activities. He is active in the field of Dam Safety assessment, assurance and rehabilitation technologies. He has over twenty technical publications in his credit.

Er. Pandya began his career with the Central Water Commission (an apex body under Government of India) as Assistant Director and later served as its Chairman. In his professional career, he occupied top positions in various Government of India (GoI) offices under the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), which include Director General, National Water Development Agency (NWDA) and Chairman & Managing Director, National Projects Construction Corporation (NPCC).

An avid proponent of irrigation and hydropower projects, he has been a key figure behind the establishment of International flagship event ‘India Water Week’ for MoWR, which is presently in its fifth edition and also established the ‘National Conference on Dam Safety’, an annual event with assistance from World Bank funded Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP).

He has been conferred with various awards and recognitions by professional bodies like Central Board of Irrigation & Power, Indian Geotechnical Society, Indian Society of Rock Mechanics & Tunnelling Technology, Aqua Foundation, Water Digest etc. He is associated with a number of water resources societies as member and office bearer such as Indian Water Resources Society, Indian Association of Hydrologists, etc.

Er. Pandya was elected as the Vice President of ICID for the period 2014-16 and made active contributions to the various activities of the Commission. He is currently serving as Secretary General of ICID with effect from 01 January 2018.

Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Glasgow, UK, and Gujarat University, India; Director, Water Management International, Singapore; and Chief Executive, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico. 

Prof. Asit K. Biswas is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s leading authorities on water, food, environment and development-related issues. He has a very distinguished career as an academic; senior public official in Canada; advisor and confidant to Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers in 23 countries, six Heads of United Nations  Agencies, two Secretary-Generals of OECD, several Heads of bilateral aid agencies, and four CEOs or Chairmen of MNCs in Fortune 500 list. 

He has worked and lived in all continents except Australia. He was a member of the World  Commission on Water, and co-founder of International Water Resources Association and World Water Council. 

He was a member of the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum and is currently member of the International Advisory Board, Pictet Asset Management, Geneva; member of the Advisory Board, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; and Strategic Advisor, Singapore International Water Week. 

Among his numerous awards are Crystal Drop and Millennium Prizes of the International Water Resources Association; Walter Huber Prize of the American Society of Civil Engineering; Stockholm Water Prize, considered to be the Nobel Prize for water, for “his outstanding and multi-faceted contributions to global water resource issues;” “Person of the  Year” award from Prime Minister Harper of Canada; Aragon Environment Prize of Spain. Reuters named him as a “one of the top 10 water trailblazers of the world.” Impeller magazine selected him as “true global water hero.” 

Because of his manifold research contributions, he has received seven Honorary Doctorates of Technology or Engineering from leading global universities, including from both University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde. He was elected an Academician over 20 years ago. He currently has an h-index of 46. Google Scholar lists 950 of his publications and over 10,400 citations of his work. He has a Research Gate score of 42.1, which puts him into the top 2.5% of all scientists from all disciplines from the entire world.

He is the author or editor of 89 books. His work has been translated into 42 languages. Prof. Biswas is the founder of the International Journal of Water Resources Development and was its Editor-in-Chief for its first 29 years. He is a regular media contributor to BBC, CNN, CNBC, TRT, Project Syndicate, The Conversation, Channel News Asia, MediaCorp and China Daily on issues related to natural resources management, climate change, environment, geopolitics, international relations, business strategies and innovations. His opinion pieces in various international media are now read by some 1.74 million readers annually all over the world.