IHE Delft MSc student Manisha Banik wants to expand access to drinking water in India
Manisha Banik from India studies water to accelerate her career and her work to ensure that everyone in India one day will have affordable access to safe drinking water. She sees effective water governance as a key way forward, particularly considering the growing water-related challenges brought by climate change impacts.
I won an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship Programme scholarship to study for my Master’s degree in Water and Sustainable Development at IHE Delft. My specialism is the Water Hazards, Risks and Climate track, with an Engineering Sciences profile.
In India, I have my own company, called MAB Incorporation, which aims to eradicate water related problems so that everyone has access to safe drinking water with minimal expenses. We work on projects related to climate change adaptation, water treatment and water resource management and sustainability. I choose IHE Delft because of the match with my experiences and background. Learning more about the field will benefit my career.
Enhanced my knowledge
The best part is how IHE Delft does not tell you how to do something, but it tells you what to do, and you need to figure out how! The process of finding ‘the how’ has enhanced my knowledge. Deadlines and assignments were very overwhelming in the beginning, but once you get used to it, it ends up becoming easier. You start to think and work in a different way to figure out how to do it or make it happen.
It has always been about water
In West Bengal, I studied for a bachelor’s in civil engineering and water was a part of my studies. My first master was in water resources and hydraulic engineering so it has always been about water for me in the past 10 or 12 years. I worked remotely as an Indian Water consultant for the German company adelphi. We dealt with water related projects in rural India as part of a project involving the European Commission and India’s Department of Science and Technology.
Water management big issue in India
In India, water management is the biggest issue. We know about climate change and water scarcity, but if water is managed in a proper way, we have a chance to deal with the problems and become climate resilient. In India, water is managed at three levels: national, regional and local. Funds are allocated differently in many different schemes and integrating all of them is a challenge. At the regional level, limited technical knowledge about water and competing priorities, such as electricity and roads, as well as reluctance to change, add to the challenge.
In India, water management is the biggest issue. We know about climate change and water scarcity, but if water is managed in a proper way, we have a chance to deal with the problems and become climate resilient.
Studying at IHE Delft
When I arrived to IHE Delft, it was my first time in the Netherlands, and I was very excited. I was very stressed in the beginning! I am very ambitious and wanted to show my best during the first examinations – and it all paid off! I got used to the way of working and the examinations processes. I am now working on my thesis based in the Netherlands, together with Dunea, an important water provider.
The teaching style is very different: we do not get told what to do. Professors are very helpful though: every time I am stuck I ask them for help and they always find time to help us to understand the subject. This is the first time I am doing a one-year master’s programme and time is a main constraint. You have to do everything in a limited time. But the compactness is also an advantage: in just one year, you acquire knowledge, practise in the field during field visits, and return to your country with enhanced wisdom and a different perspective to look at water related problems.
After graduation
I am working on my thesis on data-driven modelling on water supply systems for Dunea. In India, in my work with water supply providers, I can implement everything that I have learned. In particular, I can apply the data-driven approach to the projects that I am already working on in India. Afterwards, I would like to start a PhD on the same topic, digitalization of water supply systems. Perhaps, here at IHE Delft, time will tell!
Interested?
IHE Delft offers two Master of Science programmes: the MSc in Water and Sustainable Development and the Research MSc in Water and Sustainable Development. In addition, IHE Delft is part of several joint MSc Programmes offered with partner institutes.
