CWAS - Key Persons
Aasim has been associated with CWAS since 2010. He has extensive experience in the WASH sector in India, Nepal and Africa and has worked with governments and sector partners at all levels (national, state, city) for planning and implementation of WASH programmes. He leads CWAS's work in supporting implementation of Climate resilient and sensitive water and sanitation programs in small and medium towns of Gujarat and Maharashtra with a focus on Water Security, Citywide Inclusive sanitation (CWIS) and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM). He is also involved in providing technical support to the Government of Maharashtra for implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas of the state. He also leads the capacity building activities undertaken by the center for various stakeholders. He is a member of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance that advocates for FSSM at national level in India. Prior to joining CWAS, he has worked in the construction industry.
He is a technical and project management professional with Executive Education from Harvard Business School, a Masters degree on Urban (Infrastructure) Planning from CEPT University and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Nirma University.
Aditi has been associated with CWAS since 2015. She leads activities related to communications at CWAS and supports projects related to digital technologies for improving WASH services. She has experience in faecal sludge and septage management, water security, capacity building, ESG assessments and behaviour change communication. In these aspects, she provides support to the city and state programs at CWAS. She holds a Master's degree in Infrastructure Planning from CEPT University and has done her Bachelor's in Physical Planning from School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi.
Apoorva has been associated with CWAS since 2021. She is an architect from Vadodara and has completed her Masters in Urban Management from CEPT University. At CWAS, she is a part of the PAS team providing technical assistance for Service Level Benchmarking to the urban local bodies of Gujarat and is responsible for its reliability assessments. She is also engaged in research on citizen feedback on service delivery and interlinkages of climate change with WASH. Her interests lie in strategic management of urban water resources, sustainable practices relating wastewater and performance monitoring of water and sanitation services.
Arfat has been associated with CWAS since 2017. He is a civil engineer from Pune University and is involved in the overall coordination, monitoring and management of the sanitation project in Sinnar under Swachha Maharashtra Mission. He has earlier worked as a rural housing engineer under PMAYG scheme in Nashik.
Arwa has been associated with CWAS since 2016. She is a development professional with over 10 years of work experience in catalysing urban change through technical expertise, research, consensus building and capacity development. She leads CWAS's work in supporting cities implement sanitation programs, gender inclusive strategies and good governance by working closely with the local city government and stakeholders. She is involved in the City Wide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) program in the city of Wai, Maharashtra. Apart from the CWIS program she is actively involved in dissemination of CWAS work under feacal sludge and septage management through capacity building sessions and content development. Arwa is passionate about sanitation in Indian cities with a focus on inclusivity for women and vulnerable groups.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Professor
A chartered engineer with a second degree in Development Studies, Professor Barbara Evans holds the chair in Public Health Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Leeds. She leads a multi-disciplinary team that works on sanitation, hygiene and water services in the global south with a particular focus on urban sanitation in cities and towns. Professor Evans' career spans 30 years; she worked at the World Bank for over twenty years before joining the University in 2009 and has lived and worked in South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America. Recently Professor Evans has been working extensively in East Africa with the HyCRISTAL project exploring the intersection of climate change and water/sanitation services planning and delivery. She provides strategic advice to the United Nations Joint Monitoring Program for Water and Sanitation, the RCUK Grand Challenges Research Fund; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Container-based Sanitation Alliance and the Government of India. She has won several prizes but is more proud of the cohort of brilliant early and mid-career graduates of the WASH training programme at Leeds who are now infiltrating government, the private sector and development agencies with a vision of effective modern public health engineering.
Bhushan has been associated with CWAS since 2017. He is actively engaged in supporting the city of Wai in achieving ODF, ODF+ and ODF++ status under Swachha Maharashtra Mission and for implementing City Wide Inclusive Sanitation.He holds a diploma in Civil engineering from Government Polytechnic Amravati, Maharashtra and an undergraduate degree in planning from COEP, Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Chirag is an Environmentalist and a WASH professional. He has more than four years of experience in urban and rural sanitation in implementation and capacity building. He is currently supporting the Government of Maharashtra in the implementation of FSSM in Urban areas of Maharashtra under the Swachh Maharashtra Mission. He is engaged in monitoring Urban sanitation programs/ protocols such as achieving ODF+/ODF++/Water plus and Swachh Survekshan rankings. In his previous roles, he has been supporting the Government of Odisha in the implementation of the State Urban Sanitation Strategy by engaging Women and Safaimitras in the sanitation value chain. Apart from that, he has worked with the government of Uttar Pradesh in effective implementation and capacity building of FSSM in ULBs of U.P. He has a Masters's degree in Environmental science from Somaiya College, Mumbai. He is very passionate about wildlife, loves trekking, playing football, and cycling.
Dhara has been associated with CWAS since 2009. She has extensive experience in financial management, general management, and operations. At CWAS she is responsible for overseeing central HR administration and also handles financial management and reporting. She has done her Master's in Business Administration with specialization in Finance and Bachelors in Business Administration from Gujarat University.
Dhruv has been associated with CWAS since 2009. He has extensive experience in the WASH sector in India and Nepal. He leads the work on performance monitoring for WASH services under the PAS programme and is involved in providing technical support to the Government of Maharashtra for implementing Swachh Bharat Mission in urban areas of the state. He also has extensive experience in water sustainability, public finance, urban equity and public private partnership.
He has a Masters in Planning (Housing) from CEPT University, Ahmedabad and a Bachelors in Civil Engineering from MS University, Vadodara. Prior to joining CEPT University, he has worked in the real estate sector.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Dhwani has been associated with CWAS since 2017. She works on WASH monitoring through the PAS program, innovative financing, private sector involvement in FSSM, spatial analysis and government budgets. She also supports CWAS's sanitation activities in Maharashtra and was involved in the preparation of detailed project reports (DPRs) of faecal sludge treatment plants (FSTPs) in Maharashtra. Her key areas of interest include participatory integrated water resource management, inclusive sanitation and project finance. She is a civil engineer and has done her post-graduation in urban and regional planning with a specialization in infrastructure planning, from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Digvijay has been associated with CWAS since 2020. He has accepted his bachelor's degree in Environmental Engineering from Kolhapur Institute of Technology, Kolhapur, and master's degree in Civil-Environmental Engineering from Walchand College of Engineering, Sangli. He is working in the field of sanitation for more than seven years. He is currently associated with CWAS in the capacity of Research Associate to support the implementation of sanitation programs in small and medium towns of Maharashtra with a focus on Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM).
Job Titles:
- Center Head
- Professor Emeritus and Head at the Center for Water
Dinesh Mehta is a Professor Emeritus and Head at the Center for Water and Sanitation. He has over four decades of experience in urban policy, urban planning and management, in Asia and Africa.
Dr Mehta was involved in global urban policy and dialogue as the head of Urban Management Programme at the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi. He also contributed significantly to urban policy formulation by Government of India, while he was a Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India. Dr Mehta was also the Director of School of Planning at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India during 1986-1992. In 2013, Professor Mehta was awarded International Water Association's Development Solutions Award in recognition of his contribution to research and practice in Water. In 2017 became a fellow of IWA and Chair of their specialist group on water and sanitation in developing countries
Dr. Mehta has a PhD from University of Pennsylvania, a Master's in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering, IIT, Madras, India.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation
Dr. Ramanath Jha belongs to the 1977 batch of the IAS. In the 80s and 90s, he worked as Administrator Pandharpur Municipal Council, Administrator & Municipal Commissioner Solapur, Collector & Deputy Director Municipal Administration, Ahmednagar, Municipal Commissioner Pune and Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA. His subsequent postings were as Regional Advisor, South Asia for the Urban Management Programme of the UNDP/UN-Habitat, Vice Chairman & Managing Director of MSRDC and Principal Secretary, Transport, Ports and State Excise, GoM. He received the State Government's Chinmulgund award for administrative excellence in 1989. He sought voluntary retirement from Government in 2008 and joined the private sector as CEO & MD, Khed Economic Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. He is currently Chairman, Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC), Chairman, Mumbai Commission for Art, Culture and Music (MCAMC), Adviser, Mumbai Parking Authority (MPA), Director General, MCGM's Centre for Capacity Building & Research (MCMCR) and Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation (ORF).
Dr. Jha led the Mumbai DP team for preparing the Development Plan Mumbai 2034 (2015-2019). He was a member of the Expert Group on Economic Revival of Maharashtra post Covid-19 Lockdown, member of the Transparency Committee, GoM for suggesting reforms in urban local bodies, member of the Expert Committee for the preparation of the Model Municipal Law commissioned by GoI, member of the Expert Panel for Property Tax Reforms in Delhi, member of the Expert Panel for National Urban Awards instituted by CRISIL and Chairman of the Committee of GoM for framing the bill on Metropolitan Planning Committee. He was also the DG of All India Institute of Local Self Government (AIILSG).
He co-authored a book "Towards People Friendly Studies" published by UNICEF and "Urban Essays" published by YASHADA. He was Editor of the "City Development Strategy for Hyderabad" published by UN-Habitat, "Perspectives in Urban Development" published by Symbiosis and theme mentor for two modules "Urban Governance" and "Municipal Management" prepared by YASHADA. He has published a number of papers on a variety of urban subjects and lectures widely on urban issues.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Economist, Water - Energy Policy
Dr. Tushaar Shah, an economist, water-energy policy reseaecher and public policy specialist, is an Emeritus Scientist of the International Water Management Institute, Colombo and Professor Emeritus of the Institute of Rural Management Anand. Over the past 40 years, Shah's main research interests have been in two fields: farmer organizations and water institutions and policies. In both these fields, he has published extensively and his writings have helped shape national debates and public policies. The research he published on water markets generated wide interest in India and abroad and water markets soon emerged as a distinct field of study in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. This new field attracted hundreds of researchers and led to a voluminous empirical literature during the 1990's and thereafter. Studies by the faculty and students of IRMA under his leadership during the 1990's kickstarted a debate on how best to design robust member organizations and sowed the seeds of new generation farmer cooperatives. Likewise, field research by the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program Shah founded and led influenced Government of Gujarat's Surya Shakti Kisan Yojana (SKY), and Government of India's Prime Minister's Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) as well as US $ 45 billion KUSUM scheme for solarising India's groundwater economy.
His policy research on groundwater governance won Shah Consultative Group of International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)' "Outstanding Scientist" award in 2002, UN Water-for-Life Award for Best Practices in water management research in 2014 and Distinguished Associate Award of International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) in 2018. For over a decade, Shah has been a regular invitee to the annual pre-budget consultations with Union Finance Minister in the field of agriculture and rural development. In late 2019, Shah was invited to brainstorm with the Prime Minister and Niti Ayog along with 40 economists, industrialists and thought leaders on "Economic Policy: The Road Ahead" for NDA II.
Gaurav has been associated with CWAS since 2018. He supports CWAS's activities in WASH monitoring through the PAS program where he is involved in data collection, analysis, and reporting through visualizations. He also provides support to the city and state programs with database or spatial analysis as well as graphic design. He holds a Bachelor's degree in planning (B.PLAN) from School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal
Harish has been associated with CWAS since 2018. He provides on-site support in Wai city for implementing sanitation improvements where he is responsible for managing day-to-day operations in scheduled desludging, conducting surveys, organizing workshops and assisting with other programmatic activities. Harish holds a Bachelor's degree in Computer Applications from Surabhi College of Advance Technology, Wai. He is also a theatre artist and is interested in making short films.
Hiral has been associated with CWAS since 2019. She has done her post-graduation in commerce from HLCC (Gujarat University-Ahmedabad) and is also a qualified IATA (International Air Transport Association) professional having done a foundation course in travel and tourism. She has over nine years of experience in operations, travel management, and general administration. At CWAS her role involves supporting program and travel management for workshops and conferences, general administration and execution of administrative and operational tasks.
Jaladhi Vavaliya is associated with CWAS since 2009. She works on the performance measurement and monitoring aspects of urban water supply and sanitation. She coordinates online data collection, analysis and reporting of performance assessment of urban water supply and sanitation services in cities for the project. She has conducted various capacity building training for service level benchmarking (SLB) in India and was involved in various technical studies on non-revenue water. She studied Bachelor's in Environmental Engineering, from LD College of Engineering, Ahmedabad and Master's in Planning (Environmental Planning) from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Junior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Jigisha has been associated with CWAS since 2016. She has experience in faecal sludge and septage management, water quality monitoring, sustainable urban water management and public finance. She co-ordinates activities at state and division level for supporting implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in Maharashtra. She is a civil engineer and has done her post-graduation in Urban Planning from CEPT University, Ahmedabad.
Jinal has been associated with CWAS since 2019. She is an architect - town planner with experience in building services, rural development and sanitation sector. At CWAS she is actively engaged in supporting Satara Municipal Corporation for sanitation improvements and has also provided support for City Wide Inclusive Sanitation in Wai. Jinal holds a Masters in Town and Country Planning from College of Engineering, Pune and a Bachelors in Architecture from BKPS, Pune. Her key areas of interest include sustainable rural development plans, equitable sanitation and cost-effective building design.
Job Titles:
- Water Resource Management Expert
Kala Vairavamoorthy is an internationally recognized water resource management expert, with a particular interest in urban water issues. He combines a strong engineering background with practical international experience. He has published extensively and has a strong international profile working closely with the World Bank, UN-Habitat, UNESCO, GWP, SIWI, ADB and the EU. He has led several urban water management projects for the EU, World Bank, African Development Bank and DFID. He is currently a member of the ADB's Water Advisory Group.
He joined the IWA from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), where he was the Deputy Director General (DDG). He was the Founding Dean of the Patel College of Global Sustainability and a tenured Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of South Florida. Prior to that he was a full Professor and Chair of Water Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Professor and Head of Core of Sustainable Urban Water Systems at UNESCO-IHE. He is currently Professor (adjunct) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM).
Kala Vairavamoorthy has a PhD and MSc in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College, London, UK and a BSc(Hons) in Civil Engineering from King's College, London. He is also a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).
Job Titles:
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Executive Director - IWA
Kala Vairavamoorthy is an internationally recognized water resource management expert, with a particular interest in urban water issues. He combines a strong engineering background with practical international experience. He has published extensively and has a strong international profile working closely with the World Bank, UN-Habitat, UNESCO, GWP, SIWI, ADB and the EU. He has led several urban water management projects for the EU, World Bank, African Development Bank and DFID. He is currently a member of the ADB's Water Advisory Group.
He joined the IWA from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), where he was the Deputy Director General (DDG). He was the Founding Dean of the Patel College of Global Sustainability and a tenured Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of South Florida. Prior to that he was a full Professor and Chair of Water Engineering at the University of Birmingham, UK, and Professor and Head of Core of Sustainable Urban Water Systems at UNESCO-IHE. He is currently Professor (adjunct) at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM).
Kala Vairavamoorthy has a PhD and MSc in Environmental Engineering from Imperial College, London, UK and a BSc(Hons) in Civil Engineering from King's College, London. He is also a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK).
Karan is associated with CWAS since 2022. He has completed his Master's degree in Urban Infrastructure with specialization in WASH from CEPT University and graduated in Urban Planning from the College of Engineering Pune (COEP). He has a prime interest in climate change and its implications on WASH sector, community engagement, and sustainable urban development. Over the course of time, he wants to contribute towards improving the condition of WASH sector in small and medium towns and rural areas. Moreover, he is passionate towards playing cricket, football, and badminton.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Kasturi has been associated at CWAS since 2014. At CWAS, she has been primarily supporting the planning and implementation of sanitation programs in the small and medium towns of Maharashtra with a focus on Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM). Access to own toilets for all, sanitation finance at household level, gender inclusivity, municipal capacity strengthening, resource recovery and reuse at the FSTPs have been some of her areas of work and interest. She has done her Masters in Urban Planning from CEPT University, Ahmedabad and Bachelors in Architecture from VNIT, Nagpur.
Manish is associated with CWAS since 2022. He has attained his bachelor's degree in urban planning from the College of Engineering, Pune, and a Master's degree in the same domain from Visveswaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. He is working in the field of sanitation for more than two years. He is currently associated with CWAS in the capacity of Research Associate to support Swachh Maharashtra Mission and is stationed at Nashik Division. His primary interests include inclusive development of the rurban areas, community-based solid waste management, SLWM of rural areas, resilience of urban infrastructures, and green building techniques. While in CWAS, he is providing technical support to the ULBs for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM). He wants to evolve as an infrastructure expert in due course of time.
Job Titles:
- Center Head
- CRDF Professor Emeritus
Meera Mehta is CRDF Professor Emeritus and the Head of the Center for Water and Sanitation. She also contributes to courses at the Faculty of Planning, CEPT University.
She has over 45 years of experience in water, urban development, and infrastructure finance. Her experience spans across countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She served as the Director of the School of Planning at CEPT University before joining USAID's FIRE-D Project in India, and later the World Bank and its Water and Sanitation Program in Africa. She has consulted for many national and international agencies, including UNICEF, World Bank, ADB, WaterAid, HIC, Government of the Netherlands. She has written widely and published papers on housing, urban development, water and sanitation, and financing.
She is a member of the steering committee of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance. She is a member of the International Advisory Board for the UKRI and GCRF funded project for Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub, University of Newcastle, since 2020. She is a member of the Project Advisory Board for the USAID funded Global project on "Urban resilience by building partnerships and applying new evidence in water, sanitation and Hygiene (Urban WASH)" - 2022 to 2026.
She was a board member at IRC, a global not-for-profit organization driving resilient WASH systems, and on the Steering Committee of the Stockholm-based inter-governmental organization Global Water Partnership (GWP). She was a member of the working group of the WHO-UNICEF for post-2015 deliberations for water supply and sanitation. She has been a member of various national and international Technical Committees related to water and sanitation. She was one of the Editors for the IWA's WASH development journal.
She has studied Architecture and Urban Planning and has a PhD in Economics.
Nilesh has been associated with CWAS since 2013. He has a background in social work and has completed his Master's degree from Nagpur University. He is engaged in collecting information, surveys and data analsysis with respect to WASH performance monitoring, sanitation and municipal finance. He also supports office administration and is involved in managing day-to-day activities such as coordination related to travel and accommodation for office staff. Prior to joining CWAS, he has worked under the Ahmedabad RAY project in slum assessments pertaining to WASH facilities and socio-economic conditions.
Ninad is an Urban Planner who graduated from Govt. College of Engineering Pune (COEP) working in the sector of urban sanitation. Currently, he is supporting Khopoli Municipal Council for 'City Wide Inclusive Sanitation' and other sanitation-related activities. His key areas of interest include rural development, equitable urban sanitation, and rural water management.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Omkar has been associated with CWAS since 2016. He holds a Master's degree in Infrastructure Engineering Design from CEPT University and has completed his graduation in Civil Engineering from Pune University. He has multidisciplinary consulting experience in the field of urban and infrastructure planning, project implementation, and public policy. At CWAS he has worked directly with Sinnar Municipal Council in making the city ODF and moving towards ODF++. Currently, he is involved in the overall coordination, monitoring, and management of ODF++ activities for ULBs under Pune Division in Maharashtra and also supports the state unit in a technical capacity. He has previous experience in design of water supply and sewerage projects, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna, and transport system planning.
Job Titles:
- Junior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Job Titles:
- Independent Director
- Member of the Advisory Board
- Chief Operating Officer - Water.Org
Vedika oversees all impact efforts within Water.org and leads the team responsible for working with financial institutions, global investors, and other sector leaders to empower millions of people in need with access to safe water and sanitation. She previously served as Water.org's Managing Director, India.
Vedika has more than 25 years of experience building teams and businesses with Indian and international financial institutions. Prior to joining Water.org in January 2016, she served as Vice Chairman and Managing Director at Credit Suisse Securities (India) Private Limited from 2010-2015. Previously, she served as the Managing Director & Head of Investment Banking at J.P. Morgan.
Vedika serves as an Independent Director on the boards of several companies. She has been appointed as a part time member of the Banks Board Bureau, and she also serves as a board member of the Jai Vakeel Foundation, an institution focused on children and adults with intellectual disabilities.