Indian Express 17.12.2009
National conference on hydraulics commences
A two-day national conference- Hydro 2009 started at the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) on Thursday.
The conference organised jointly by Indian society for Hydraulics (ISH), CWPRS, Groundwater Surveys Development Agency (CSDA) supported by UNICEF will focus on- Hydraulics- water resources, coastal and environment engineering.
C D Thatte, former secretary, Ministry of Water Resources was the chief guest of the function. K M Nagargoje, director GSDA was the guest of honour. I D Gupta, director, CWPRS presided over the function.
Over 175 engineers and scientists from various organisations across the country are participating in this event, now in its 14 th year. The conference includes 116 technical papers on 13 themes to be presented during the two-day event.
A welcome note along with an overview of ISH was presented by D B Deolalikar, president, ISH. During his inaugural speech, Thatte said, “As we meet on the backdrop of the ongoing Copenhagen summit, the global projections have to be assessed on a local level. We are facing challenges in various sectors such as- food, energy, water, health and infrastructure and we will have to try hard to extend the availability of the resources to meet the demands in these fields. It is projected that our needs as a nation would increase by 50 per cent in the next three decades and in order to be able to cater to the increased demands, we will have to replicate the innovative solutions.” Thatte also touched a number of topics such as challenges in sustainable development, non-implementation of reports by environmental commission.
Managament issues related to water are important. Reduction of water wastage, involvement of communities in saving water are some of the important aspects that need to be considered seriously. Science should improve people's lives and an interface needs to be created between scientific community as well as the implementation of scientific findings for the benefit of common man,” said Nagargoje.
Eminent personalities in the field were honoured during the programme. Lifetime achievement awards were presented to D B Pant and S K Mazumdar for their outstanding contribution to the field. Prabhat Chandra, organising secretary, ISH proposed a vote of thanks.
