Rajit Ojha (He / Him)

I possess over 16 years of experience in Water Supply and Sanitary Engineering and have extensive expertise in WaSH governance, localizing SDG 6.1 and 6.2, and devising Local government’s WaSH plans. My proficiency lies in evaluating financing options, determining investment requirements, and analyzing expenditure trends of different levels of governments. Currently, I am at the forefront of the National Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene Management Information System, a georeferenced tool that assesses the functionality of the system, the key performance indicators of service providers, and reports Joint Monitoring Program and system strengthening indicators. Moreover, I am spearheading research into the use of Artificial intelligence to review and validate data, exploring the possibility of utilizing images to evaluate the quality of the data sets collected by enumerators. Over the course of my career, I have coordinated with over 20 development partners such as ADB, UNICEF, WB, DFID, and WHO to promote SDG-6 system strengthening in Nepal. My experience also includes assessing the performance of water utilities, developing key performance indicators, and creating guidelines/tools to enhance their management and operational efficiency. Additionally, I am the focal person in Nepal for the GLAAS survey and track fin initiative. I Have completed my M.Sc. in Water Supply Engineering from UNESCO-IHE in Delft, Netherlands, and earned my PhD in Engineering from the University of Yamanashi in 2019, where my research focused on water pricing, tariffs, financial implications, and environmental economics. My research was conducted under the project "Hydro-microbiological Approach for Water Security in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal," which included hydrogeological studies of groundwater, microbiological studies, and governance assessments. My published work has explored the interrelation between consumer, utility, and groundwater externalities in water pricing in Kathmandu, Nepal. As the Disaster Risk Management Section Chief at the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management from 2014 to 2019, I led the development of Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation guidelines and played a key role in developing several policy documents. I also supervised master's and PhD students in Environmental Engineering, focusing on water supply functionality and sustainability. Between 2014 and 2019, I served as the Disaster Risk Management Section Chief at the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, where I was responsible for enhancing disaster and climate risk preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and adaptation in WASH. During this time, I led the development of guidelines for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation and served as the WaSH cluster lead during the recovery phase following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal. As a team member, I led the development of policy documents such as the WaSH Sector Development Plan, WASH Policy 2022 draft. As a team leader, I developed the Monitoring and Evaluation framework of NWASH system, WaSH plan process and estimation guidelines, Business plan manual for water service providers, Business plan of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, System categorization guideline draft, Nepal's Status report of WaSH-2019, and WaSH disaster risk management and climate change adaptation guidelines. Furthermore, I am currently supervising master's students in Environmental Engineering in their thesis work focused on water supply functionality, sustainability, and the management of water supply infrastructure/design calibration at the Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University Nepal. Additionally, I supervised a PhD student at Prince of Songkla University, Thailand, conducting research on "A Review of Sustainability Indicators and Tariff Models for Community-Based Drinking Water Projects."