Watershed - How We Destroyed India's Water and We Can Save It

MRIDULA RAMESH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SUNDARAM TEXTILES

Discussion on the theme of the Book ON MONDAY, 13 DECEMBER 2021 (6:00 PM - 7:15 PM) AT MMA MANAGEMENT CENTER

CHAIRMAN

SPECIAL INVITEE

RANGANATH N K

RAVISHANKAR G V

GRUNDFOS WATER AMBASSADOR AT THE GRUNDFOS PUMPS INDIA

MANAGING DIRECTOR, SEQUOIA CAPITAL INDIA PVT LTD

5:30PM

Registration & High Tea MMA Management Center

EMMARGORP

6:00 PM

Welcome Address

Mr K Mahalingam Vice President, Madras Management Association & Partner/Director, TSM Group of Companies

Address by the Author

Ms Mridula Ramesh Executive Director, Sundaram Textiles

Chairman & Special invitee in conversation with the author

Mr Ranganath N K Grundfos Water Ambassador at the Grundfos Pumps India

Mr Ravishankar G V Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Pvt Ltd

Q&A Session 7:15 PM

Vote of Thanks

Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM Executive Director, Madras Management Association

India is facing its worst water crisis ever, and some believe that by 2030 it will fail to meet half its water demand. Water availability per person in India has been decreasing for decades, leaving parts of the country in a cruel Day Zero situation, shuttering factories and pushing farmers over the brink. As the climate heats up, it is likely that swathes of land will be

SISPONYS

submerged, water-related extremes will reshape industry and famine will revisit the country.

In this fascinating, deeply researched book Mridula Ramesh takes us through 4,000 years of history to track how India’s water has reached this critical point. From stories of ancient water-engineering marvels in the Indus Valley and Tamil Nadu to how water shaped medieval Delhi; from the burning fields of the country’s north-west to the hilsa’s curtailed journey; and from the forests of Kanha and dams in Arunachal to Kanpur’s tanneries, Watershed uncovers how India’s fate is gradually being sealed by the extremes of drought and floods.

Armed

with

this

understanding,

Mridula

Ramesh

lays

out

pragmatic,

scalable

solutions

that

can

work

for

both

India’s

temperamental water and its democratic exigencies. She describes how determined water warriors are showing the way forward – from the fields of Bihar and Maharashtra to communities within Bengaluru’s apartments and in the arid tracts of Rajasthan – and asserts that managing our water will usher in not just resilience but also the jobs India needs.

Sobering and persuasive, Watershed is an urgent call to action to every Indian citizen to do what it takes to secure our shared future.

SYAWAEKAT YEK

This book analyses India’s water holistically, unpacking the causes and symptoms of the country’s on-going and looming water crises.

Takes a unique long view and offers solutions that have been proven to work at scale and within political realities.

Shows why and how India’s water is unique and so vulnerable to climate change, politics, and geopolitics. Posits the argument that water is a foundational and not a development issue.

Lays out how India’s business landscape will be transformed by water – coal will become unviable in certain parts of the country while new sectors providing over a million jobs will emerge.

Highlights the need for smart water policies and the role of innovation in securing water resilience. Addresses key questions on India's

pledges

made

in

recent

global

climate

crisis

conferences.

Emphasizes

individuals, communities, and government, with powerful, persuasive stories.

the

need

for

decentralized

action

from

Speaker

Mridula Ramesh is the author of critically well-regarded, ‘The Climate Solution – India’s Climate Change Crisis and What We Can Do About It’. She is founder of the Sundaram Climate Institute, which focuses on waste and water solutions and education. She is an active angel investor in cleantech start-ups, with a portfolio of over a dozen start-ups. Mridula sits on several angel management groups, including the Indian Angels and the Chennai Angels, and is involved in several initiatives to spur entrepreneurship to build climate resilience. A graduate with distinction of Cornell University (with majors in Chemistry and Microbiology), with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Mridula worked at McKinsey in Silicon Valley before returning to India.

Leveraging on her two decades of management experience, she teaches a postgraduate class on climate change at the Great Lakes Institute of Management and is a regular columnist for Firstpost on Climate Change

Mridula Ramesh

and has written for the Hindu, Live Mint, Bloomberg Quint and Conde Nast. She is the Executive Director of Sundaram Textiles and lives and experiments in Madurai in a net zero-waste house with her husband and two children.

Chairman

Mr Ranganath N K was the Managing Director of Grundfos Pumps India Pvt. Ltd. since its inception in 1998. He has 37 years of experience in Marketing, Sales, Design, Project Management, Finance, HR and General Management. He is currently the co-chair of the CII National Committee on water and the Southern Regional Chair for the committee on Rural Job Creation and Backward District Development.

He completed his Mechanical Engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy in 1978 and his Post Graduation in Business Management from XLRI, Jamshedpur in 1980.

Prior to joining Grundfos Pumps, he was a Director of IAEC Industries from 1986 to 1998 and has handled boilers, burners, pollution control and abatement, incinerators and energy recovery equipment.

Ranganath N K

Grundfos India under him has been very successful and also has the distinction of having one of the first green rated buildings in India.

He was the President of Madras Management Association for the year 2010-11

Special Invitee Ravishankar is a Managing Director of Sequoia Capital in India and focus on investing in Consumer tech, Consumer, Education and Financial Services opportunities. He is looking to partnering with entrepreneurs who are solving large problems and have unique solutions to these problems. He loves the companies that use technology to solve consumer problems to build large and enduring businesses. He is currently serve on the boards of Byjus, Capital Float, Eruditus Learning, Faces Cosmetics, Five Star finance, Finova Capital, Go Fashion, HomeLane, K12 Technoservices, Prataap Snacks (NSE: DIAMONDYD), Rebel Foods, Rupeek, Suburban Diagnostics and Turtlemint. He also served as a board member/observer of companies like Vini Cosmetics,

Ravishankar G V

India

Shelter

Finance

Corporation,

Via

(sold

to

NASDAQ:

Manappuram (NSE: MANAPPURAM) and Equitas (NSE: EQUITAS).

EBIX

),

Indigo

Paints

(NSE:

INDIGOPNTS),

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