Odisha IAS Officer Appointed Member Of IWA Advisory Board For Sanitation

Bhubaneswar: Housing & Urban Development Principal Secretary G Mathi Vathanan, a 1994-batch Odisha-cadre IAS officer, features in 11-member advisory board announced by International Water Association (IWA) on Wednesday.

The advisory board, along with a task force, has been established for its Inclusive Urban Sanitation initiative, to provide guidance, feedback and direction on the initiative’s priorities, activities and performance. “The advisory board is made up of 11 high-profile individuals who will act as advocates for inclusive urban sanitation and provide strategic support and guidance for the initiative. The board will focus on expanding the initiative’s outreach and engagement with the broader water and sanitation sector, and in particular with public sector agencies. It will also oversee the work of the task force,” the IWA said.

Mathivathana’s approach of a decentralised strategy with community partnership had become the central aspect of the Odisha model of Urban Governance initiatives and earned several national and international recognitions.

The IAS officer is leading some of the flagship urban development missions of the state – Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission (Jaga Mission), Universal Access to Piped Water Supply (Basudha), 24×7 Drink From Tap Mission (Sujal), Decentralised Solid Waste Management System, Decentralised Septage Management System, Garima – a scheme for dignity & safety of manual scavengers and Urban Wage Employment Initiative (MUKTA), which bagged World Resources Institute (WRI) Ross Centre Prize for Cities for the year 2021-2022. The Jaga Mission, which aims at transforming the slums into liveable habitat with all necessary civic infrastructure and services, has also won several global awards, including World Habitat Award in 2019 and the Asia Pacific Housing Forum Innovation awards in 2021.

The other members of the advisory board are from the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, Switzerland, Thailand and the Netherlands.