India 2010
Conference a Success

Conference Chair Chandra
Pathak participates in the opening ceremony of the India 2010
Conference, along with Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (EWRI Congress
2010 Keynote Speaker), EWRI President Udai Singh, M.S. Ananth
(Director of IIT Madras), Andrew T. Simpkin (US Consul General
for Chennai), Keynote Speaker Prof. Slobodon Simonovic, and
Conference Co-Chair Dr. K.P. Sudheer. The act of lighting the
lantern is a customary representation of progressing from
darkness into light, in relation to the revelation of
knowledge.

EWRI is pleased to report
on the success of the Institute’s third annual international
conference. In collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Madras, EWRI organized the conference entitled 3rd
International Perspective on Current and Future State of Water and
Environment. This event was held on January 5-7, 2010, at IIT
Madras, Chennai, India.

During the conference,
three distinguished professionals in the fields of water and
environment gave invited keynote speeches. Dr. Slobodan P.
Simonovic, Director of Engineering Studies at the Institute for
Catastrophic Loss Reduction (The University of Western Ontario,
London, Ontario, Canada), gave the keynote lecture on “Climate
Change and Water Resources: The Renaissance of Systems Approach.”
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, Founder of the Sulabh Sanitation and Social
Reform Movement (Sulabh Bhawan, Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi, India),
presented a guest lecture entitled “Sustainable Sanitation and
Millennium Development Goals.” Prof. Rafael Bras, Distinguished
Professor and Dean, The Henry Samueli School of Engineering
(University of California, Irvine), presented an ending keynote
lecture on “Climate Change: What We Know and the Impacts on the
Natural and Man-made Environment.” In the Water and Environmental
Issues closing panel, eminent panelists from developing and
developed countries discussed the challenges in these areas and
possible solutions.

The conference was well
attended by approximately 400 professionals from more than 24
countries. There were nearly 300 oral technical presentations and 60
poster presentations. The conference proceedings contained 360
peer-reviewed technical papers.

Event attendees enjoyed 48 technical sessions in
five concurrent technical tracks and an interactive poster session.
Sessions featured at the conference included:

water resources planning and management

water, wastewater, and waste management

global water issues

hydrology and hydraulics

ground water

urban watershed management

The next international conference is organized by
ASCE/EWRI in collaboration with the National University of Singapore
(NUS) titled “4th International Perspective on Sustainable
Environmental and Water Resources Management” will be held January
4-6, 2011 at Singapore.