Shashikant Chopde

  • Senior Research Associate
  • Institute for Social and Environmental Transition International
  • New Delhi
  • Cohort 9

Shashikant Kashinath Chopde is Senior Research Associate at International Partnership for Implementation Education, USA. Earlier, he was a Senior Programme Officer, in the Water Resources Unit (WRU) at Winrock International India (WII), a Delhi based NGO which develops and implements solutions to balance the need for food, income and environmental quality.

He worked as Coordinator of the ‘Land & Water Programme’ at Vikram Sarabhai Centre for Development Interaction (VIKSAT), an Ahemdabad based NGO, for 5+ years which promotes participation, equity and gender justice in water management by strengthening community institutions. The aim is to enhance their capacity to plan, implement and monitor activities; conduct research on water-management options; experiment with innovative practices; support governmental and NGO initiatives to expand these efforts through training and networking; and to work toward a favorable policy environment.

He was involved in a collaborative action research project on ‘Addressing water scarcity and pollution problems in the Sabarmati river basin’ (SRB) by conducting research studies on: valuing water in rural, urban areas, socio-economic impact of pollution, physical water balance, mathematical modeling for the basin to promote stakeholders interactions by way of Stakeholders Forum and sub-groups in irrigation & domestic, urban and industrial water use sectors. Earlier with VRTI, another NGO, he coordinated water-harvesting activities on a large scale for 3 years.

He is a panel member of technical experts constituted by the Government of Gujarat for sanctioning rural development projects prepared by NGOs. He has worked for 2 years preparing designs and estimating canals and hydraulic structures on water distribution network of the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Irrigation project and was involved in an assignment of Gujarat Water Resources Development Corporation (GWRDC) on Mathematical Modeling of (Groundwater) Multiquifer Systems for Mehsana district in Gujarat state.

He has Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Gujarat University, with a specialization in water resource management.