Biography
Professor (Dr) Amarendra Kumar Sinha, President of Indian National Chapter of IAH, and former Vice-Chancellor CSMU, Mumbai, served as Professor & Head, Department of Geology, University of Rajasthan; Director, Centre for Water Resource Management & Research, University of Rajasthan; Dean (Research) and Director, Centre for Water and Climate Change, SGVU, Jaipur; Director, Manipal University, Jaipur. India; President (ESS) Indian Science Congress; Expert member INC-Groundwater; Expert member INC-IGCP; Governing Council of IUAC; UGC Expert on SAP Advisory Committees; visiting faculty ICED-GOI. He was an Expert member/consulting member of GWP; IGU commission on water & sustainability; INC- IGCP; Committee for Urban Infrastructure Development; IYPE; IAH working group on Groundwater and Climate Change, National Committee to identify priority areas of research in the Water Sector under Prime Ministers’ Council, India; INC-Groundwater, India; State level Coordinator for EU-Rajasthan State partnership program for Water Resource Development; TAC (DST, GOI).
He established scientific collaboration with national and international organizations including UNESCO-IHP, JICA, CAIRN Energy and national Govt/Non govt agencies such as DST, MOEFCC, Min of JAL Shakti, GSI, CGWB. He has made significant scientific contributions by organizing many scientific activities at different scales, publishing more than 80 research papers and editing/co editing, reviewing, publication of books, articles, chapters, research papers supervising scholars for their doctoral thesis, initiating publication of the e-journal of Geohydrology by INC-IAH as Chief Editor. He was invited to programmes conducted by SIDA, IGC, IAC (Netherlands), UNEP, UNESCO, UN-IAF, EU, WWF, IGU, ASADWA and foreign universities. Prof Sinha is and has been a Member & Fellow of national and international professional and scientific bodies, and received several accolades and awards for his services and contribution in the domain of Groundwater.
Personal statement
With the rising extraction of groundwater, Asia -the largest and most populous continent– is experiencing declining groundwater levels, over-exploitation, groundwater contamination, inefficient water-use, and transboundary aquifer and governance issues affecting the sustainability of groundwater use in this part of the world. There is vast scope for collective effort under the IAH umbrella to understand, communicate and address the challenges to the sustainability of groundwater, taking into consideration the challenges of 21st century e.g. water-food-climate-energy nexus, as well as challenges towards the realization of the SDGs of 2030 development agenda. IAH is a most prestigious global organization engaged in addressing the groundwater challenges worldwide. The VP of Asia needs to continue promoting the IAH’s mission, goals, ideals and activities more vigorously with enhanced innovations to empower its members and to attract and include potential regional members, young budding students and professionals, non-technical and rural folk to the IAH fold for this purpose. Encouraging colleagues particularly from the Asian countries to publish scientific papers in Hydrogeology Journal, IAH books and monographs, and to organize and conduct workshops, conferences, and seminars to address the regional groundwater issues, and to create wider awareness and dissemination of knowledge among the groundwater community, under the aegis of different IAH commission and its networks, would constitute important tasks for the VP of Asia. Linking all the National Chapters in the region through an online network for establishing meaningful collaborations and communications, and for facilitating the timely accomplishment of the IAH’s mission would be the VP of Asia’s priority. To be IAH Vice President of Asia is a matter of honour and an opportunity indeed for me to contribute towards the accomplishment of IAH mission, particularly in the domain of Education and Outreach, including IAH’s Mentoring activities.
