Who we are

Prof. S. Janakarajan

Have been working in water and environment related issues in South India for over 20 years. Have carried out many research projects in several river basins with particular reference to surface and groundwater management, problems of water market, water rights and water laws, implications of rural –urban, and urban and peri-urban water markets, competing demand for water and water pollution and the issue of water governance, groundwater and electricity nexus. In recent times, I have worked extensively on issues relating to water conflict and conflict resolution through multi-stakeholders dialogues with practical interventions in three river basins in Tamil Nadu. I have also completed studies pertaining to solid and bio-medical waste and on urban sewage management. The research project on climate change and adaptation in South Asia was carried out in collaboration with five other institutions in India and Nepal. At the moment I am engaged in a two-year research project on Sustaining Ecology and Environment of Chennai funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.

Email: president@saciwaters.org

Prof. E. Haribabu

Prof. Haribabu Ejnavarzala obtained Masters degree in Social-Cultural Anthropology from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and PhD. degree in Sociology from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay in 1980. He taught at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur between September 1980 and June 1990. Later he moved to the University of Hyderabad in July 1990 and became a professor of Sociology in 1993 at the University of Hyderabad. He has been teaching courses in the area of science technology and society interface over the last two decades. In collaboration with faculty members of the department of philosophy at the University of Hyderabad he designed two interdisciplinary courses on: a) Science Culture and Society; and b) Technology Culture and Society for Master’s level students. He has been carrying out research on social and cultural implications of genomics for agriculture. He mentored of 24 students and 12 M. Phil students in the area of sociology of science and technology. He published research papers in peer reviewed journals such as Journal of Biosciences, International Journal of Biotechnology and Journal of Food Policy (on agricultural biotechnology and society interface), PLoS Biology and Current Science. He was appointed an adjunct professor to the International Programs of the University of Iowa, Iowa City, USA for a period of six years (July 2007 -June2013). He carried out a project supported by the Rockefeller Foundation New York, European Research Commission (7 th Programme on Science Ethics and Technological Responsibility for Development 2008-2011), IDRC, Canada on Socially Inclusive Innovations for Development with colleagues in India and China (2009-2012). He has been a consultant for some non-profit organizations in the area of social dynamics relating to technology adoption. He was Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hyderabad (Sept.2011 – Feb 2015) and Vice Chancellor-in-Charge during Feb 15-May31, 2015. He is currently Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Research and Information System (RIS) for Developing Countries, New Delhi.

Dr Jasveen Jairath

Jasveen Jairath is a water sector professional with a background in engineering and economics. Her professional work has focussed on the political economy of water with particular reference to equity and access to water by the socially deprived communities.

Dr. Shantha Mohan

Ms. Nafisa Barot

Nafisa Barot, founder director Utthan, an NGO working on water rights and conflict transformation, completed her bachelors in Food and Nutrition from the MS University Baroda, in 1979 and co-founded Utthan as an NGO committed to demonstrate sustainable, gender-sensitive processes for development ( till 2016 June) and building peoples institutions to organize for their empowerment. Her focal issues of engagement have been water governance and conflict transformation from a perspective of intersectionalities of class, caste, religion and gender.

Nafisa has been a founder member of several forums including Pravah, network of voluntary organizations, technical experts, academicians and planners working on drinking water issues and alternatives at state level; .

Nafisa has many interests including community mobilization and theatre and human rights advocacy for conflict resolution and peace building. She presently undertakes consultancy, training and research as a free-lance expert on water, Gender and conflict transformation.

Dr. N.H.Ravindranath

Professor N.H. Ravindranath’s contribution includes firstly, research into various areas of climate change, forests, renewable energy and ecosystem services; secondly, participation in various international and national efforts to address climate change (IPCC, Global Environment Facility, Committees of the Ministries of Environment and Science and Technology, World Bank and UN Agencies); thirdly, creating awareness on the science, impacts, mitigation and adaptation aspects of climate change - nationally and internationally; fourthly, designing climate change mitigation and adaptation projects, and; fifthly, building capacity in institutions to address climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Dr. Aditi Mukherji

Aditi Mukherji is leading ICIMOD´s Water and Air Theme. She previously worked at ICRISAT in Hyderabad, India, and has over 12 years of research experience on institutions and policies of water resources management.

She is an executive committee member of the Permanent Consultative Committee on Groundwater set up by the GEFand FAO, and was awarded the Inaugural Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application by the World Food Prize Foundation for her policy work in West Bengal, India.

She holds a Ph.D in human geography from Cambridge University, UK, and an MPhil in Planning and Development from ITT Bombay. She has published over 50 peer reviewed research papers and two books, and was interviewed by the BBC and National Geographic.

She was the associate editor of Hydrogeology Journal and regularly peer reviews articles for many journals including World Development, Agricultural Water Management, Energy Policy, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, and Ecological Economics.

Dr.Ashok Kumar Ghosh

Dr. Ashok Kumar Ghosh is currently working as Chairman, Bihar State Pollution Control Board and Professor & HoD, Research at Mahavir Cancer Institute and Research Centre.He superannuated as Professor-in-Charge of Department of Environment and Water Management, A.N. College, Patna, India on 30 th June after 44 years of active service. Currently he is working on a multinational (Indo-Dutch- Bangladesh) research project DELTAP for arsenic mobilization in Gangetic floodplains of Bihar supported by NWO-Wotro – The funding agency of The Netherlands Government. Dr.Ghosh is also working on DST- UKIERI supported project Nutri-SAM jointly with University of Salford ,UK , and another Indo-German project INNOWATER supported by DST, Government of India. Recently (October,2017) Dr.Ghosh has been awarded another International project FAR-GANGA from DST/Newton-Bhabha Fund in collaboration with University of Manchester ,UK and National Institute of Hydrology (NIH),Roorki. Dr.Ghosh has published more than 50 research papers and presented his research findings in International Seminars/conferences in India and abroad (USA, UK, Australia, Ireland, Bangladesh, Spain, Germany, Turkey, The Netherlands and Sweden). He has also authored five book chapters published by International publishers. Dr. Ghosh is one of the coordinators of European Commission sponsored project “Erasmus Mundus Eurindia and India4EU II Program” - a worldwide cooperation and mobility that aims to enhance quality in higher education and promote intercultural understanding. Dr.Ghosh has been awarded Erasmus Mundus Fellowship in 2010,2014 and 2015 for collaborative research with University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany and Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Dr.Ghosh has worked as Chairman of SEAC, Bihar (State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority) by Government of India from July 2014 to July 2017.He was awarded for Excellence in Water Showcase Final at 7 th World Water Forum in 2015 held at Daegu, South Korea for his research related to arsenic mitigation in rural Bihar.

Dr. C.Ramachandraiah

Dr. C. Ramachandraiah is currently a Professor of Geography in the Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad. He obtained a Masters Degree in Geography from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. and Ph.D from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was a Visiting Fellow at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, Institute of Human Sciences (MSH), Paris, University of Bordeaux-3, France, and Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

His research interests are urban transportation, urban environment, and drinking water. In addition to academic research, he is also a social activist and takes part in several advocacy activities on issues of public interest. He is a strong critique of the ongoing elevated metro rail project in Hyderabad.