The Department of Civil Engineering, Punjab Engineering College (Deemed to be University) Chandigarh, today inaugurated HYDRO 2022, the 27th International Conference on “Hydraulics, Water Resources, Environmental and Coastal Engineering” under the aegis of Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh and Indian Society for Hydraulics (ISH), Pune. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Jal Shakti, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for the Inaugural Ceremony along with Dr. R.S. Kankara, President, ISH Pune and Director, Central Water & Power Research Station Pune, Sh. Rajinder Gupta, Chairman, Board of Governors, PEC and Er. Sanjay Srivastava, Chairman, Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) as Guest of Honour. The three-day conference aims at providing a forum for academicians, scientists, researchers, practitioners, field engineers and consultants for intellectual discussion and dissemination of information derived from their contributions in the fields of Hydraulics, Water Resources, and Environmental and Coastal Engineering. The event commenced with Sh. Rajinder Gupta, Chairman, BoG PEC, extended a floral welcome to the esteemed Chief Guest and by lighting the ceremonial lamp.
The event started with Prof. Baldev Setia, Director PEC extending warm welcome to the esteemed guests. He while addressing the audience paid tribute to the founding members of the Society, late Prof. R.J. Garde and late Dr. P.P. Vaidyaraman and others. He congratulated the organizers for receiving such an overwhelming response and taking the HYDRO conference to the next level. He mentioned that the conference received around 500 entries and out of which 300 abstracts are published in the abstract booklet. He motivated the participants to make use of the platform to discuss their ideas and share information and make the best of the technical sessions from the best minds in the field.
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Cabinet Minister, Ministry of Jal Shakti while addressing the audience highlighted issues related to climate change, rainfall pattern changes and increasing water demand due to the increasing population of India. He also highlighted that according to the World Bank Report, India in 2027 will be the 3rd largest economy and accordingly water requirement will increase and so it is crucial to focus on the water use efficacy and recycling of water. He motivated the participants to engage in intellectual discussions during the conference and come up with recommendations that can be implemented to resolve the water issues in the country.
Dr. R.S. Kankara, President, ISH Pune and Director, Central Water & Power Research Station Pune while highlighting the importance of the Conference stated that such conferences provide a platform to innovative minds to discuss the issues and come up with solutions for the real-world problems. He motivated the participants to make full use of the conference and come up with recommendations that can be implemented to solve the water issues.
Er. Sanjay Srivastava, Chairman BBMB, in his address highlighted the challenges being faced in operation and maintenance to Dam Safety in India. He also highlighted the issue of climate change and the need for clean energy. He also stated that the need of the hour is to have Super specialised groups to come up with solutions for addressing the above-mentioned issues. He requested the delegates at the conference to deliberate these issues and suggest practical solutions to the problems being faced.
As a part of the session, a book of abstracts was released by the esteemed guests. Sh. Amit Kulhare, Secretary, ISH, announced various ISH Awards awarded to the best of researchers, academicians in the field.
The Inaugural session concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Umesh Sharma, Prof & Head CED & Chairman HYDRO 2022, leading to high tea.
Day one, of the conference, started with S.N Gupta Memorial Lecture by Dr. Shivam Tripathi, Professor IIT Kanpur, followed by various parallel technical sessions on Hydrology & Hydrologic Modelling, Environmental Hydraulics, Climate Change Impact on Water Resources & Coastal/ Harbor and Ocean Engineering, Hydraulic Structure, and Hydropower Project & Geospatial Technologies in Water Resources Engineering. More than 300 Researchers from IIT, NIT and other reputed Universities/Institutes across India are participating in the three-day conference.
