Meera Mehta

Senior Advisor

Meera Mehta is CRDF Professor Emeritus and the Senior Advisor of the Center for Water and Sanitation. She also contributes to courses at the Faculty of Planning, CEPT University.

She has over 45 years of experience in water, urban development, and infrastructure finance. Her experience spans across countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. She served as the Director of the School of Planning at CEPT University before joining USAID’s FIRE-D Project in India, and later the World Bank and its Water and Sanitation Program in Africa. She has consulted for many national and international agencies, including UNICEF, the World Bank, ADB, WaterAid, HIC, Government of the Netherlands. She has written widely and published papers on housing, urban development, water and sanitation, and financing.

Prof. Meera is a member of the steering committee of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance. She has been a member of the International Advisory Board for the UKRI and GCRF-funded project for Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub, University of Newcastle, since 2020. She is a member of the Project Advisory Board for the USAID-funded Global project on “Urban resilience by building partnerships and applying new evidence in water, sanitation, and Hygiene (Urban WASH)” – 2022 to 2026.

She was a board member at IRC, a global not-for-profit organization driving resilient WASH systems, and on the Steering Committee of the Stockholm-based inter-governmental organization Global Water Partnership (GWP). She was a member of the working group of the WHO-UNICEF for post-2015 deliberations for water supply and sanitation. She has been a member of various national and international Technical Committees related to water and sanitation. She was one of the Editors of the IWA’s WASH development journal.

Prof. Meera has studied Architecture and Urban Planning and has a PhD in Economics.

Dinesh Mehta

Senior Advisor

Dinesh Mehta is a Professor Emeritus and Senior Advisor of the Center for Water and Sanitation. He has over four decades of experience in urban policy, urban planning management, WASH, and climate, in Asia and Africa.

Dr. Mehta was involved in global urban policy and dialogue as the head of the Urban Management Programme at the UN-Habitat headquarters in Nairobi. He also contributed significantly to urban policy formulation by the Government of India while he was a Director of the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India. Dr. Mehta was also the Director of the School of Planning at CEPT University, Ahmedabad, India, during 1986-1992. In 2013, Professor Mehta was awarded the International Water Association’s Development Solutions Award in recognition of his contribution to research and practice in Water. In 2017, he became a fellow of IWA and Chair of their specialist group on water and sanitation in developing countries.

Dr. Mehta has a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master’s in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from IIT, Madras, India.

Dhruv Bhavsar

Principal Researcher and Center Head

Dhruv Bhavsar is an urban planning and development professional with over 15 years of extensive experience in the field of urban infrastructure, urban finance, urban development, and urban housing.  His work focuses on key thematic areas in the water and sanitation sector, spanning sector monitoring, governance, and finance; municipal and public finance; climate-resilient infrastructure; technology-driven innovation; equity and gender inclusion; and institutional capacity building. 

Dhruv has been associated with CWAS since 2009. He has extensive experience in the WASH sector in India and Nepal. 

At CWAS, he leads initiatives on performance assessment systems in water and sanitation, covering 800+ cities across India. He serves as a technical advisor to the Government of Maharashtra, supporting the Swachh Maharashtra Abhiyan for Urban Areas since 2015. He also oversees work on urban and rural water security, climate resilience, and energy transition in waste management, tech-enabled WASH solutions, and national capacity-building initiatives under the Swachhata Knowledge Partners. 

Dhruv holds a Master’s in Planning (Housing) from CEPT University, Ahmedabad, and a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from M.S. University, Vadodara. He has a diploma certificate, Graduate Professional Diploma Program in Sanitation from IHE Delft, The Netherlands.

He is an alumnus of the Global Sanitation Graduate School (GSGS) and actively contributes to academia through the GSGS network of universities. He supports the Faculty of Planning at CEPT University for rolling out the GSGS project. He has guided and mentored over 15 postgraduate students of CEPT for their theses and directed research projects. 

Aasim Mansuri

Principal Researcher and Center Head- Strategy

Aasim Mansuri is the Principal Researcher and Center Head- Strategy with over 15 years of experience in managing citywide inclusive sanitation (CWIS), climate-resilient WASH systems, and WASH-focused development programs across India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Zambia. 

Aasim has been associated with CWAS since 2010. Aasim has extensive experience working with governments and sector partners at all levels— national, state, and city—for the planning and implementation of WASH initiatives. He spearheads CWAS's efforts in supporting climate-resilient water and sanitation programs in small and medium towns of Gujarat and Maharashtra, focusing on Water Security, Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS), and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM). He leads the implementation of the CWIS program of the Gates Foundation (GF) in Wai city, Maharashtra, and has successfully led the planning and rollout of India's first scheduled desludging services under the GF-DFID Program and further in Kabwe, Zambia, under the SNV program. 

Recognized for his expertise in water and sanitation management, Aasim has made significant contributions to policy, governance, and implementation strategies. He combines a strategic vision with proven leadership and management skills, excelling in stakeholder engagement, financial management, communication, and team development. He is an active member of the Technical Working Group of JMP-WHO, helping shape global indicators for climate-resilient WASH, and a member of the National Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (NFSSM) Alliance, advocating for FSSM and Climate Resilient Sanitation at the National level. 

His contributions extend to academic activities, where he actively engages in CEPT University’s educational programs through studio reviews, Internships, and DRPs.

He is a technical and project management professional with Executive Education from Harvard Business School, a Master's degree in Urban (Infrastructure) Planning from CEPT University, and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from Nirma University.