>SchreiberBike at 05:26, 30 October 2020

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{{Infobox person
| name = Dhrubajyoti Ghosh
| image = Three guys.jpg
| caption = Dhrubajyoti Ghosh (right) accompanied by two others
| birth_date = {{birth year|1947}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2018|2|16|1947|df=yes}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| occupation = Engineer, ecologist
| spouse =
| children =
| parents =
}}
'''Dhrubajyoti Ghosh''' (1947 – February 16, 2018) was a [[Global 500 Roll of Honour|UN Global 500 laureate]], special advisor on agricultural ecosystems, part of the Commission on Ecosystem Management, and regional chair for South Asia of the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/dhrubajyoti-ghosh-death-1947-2018-he-found-wealth-in-waste-5070411/|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh (1947-2018): He found wealth in waste|date=20 February 2018|website=The Indian Express|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref name="Ghosh">{{Cite web|url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhrubajyoti-ghosh-5533a114/?originalSubdomain=in|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh|last=Ghosh|first=Dhrubajyoti|website=LinkedIn|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.iucn.org/news/commission-ecosystem-management/201804/obituary-dr-dhrubjyoti-ghosh-pioneer-wetland-conservation-eastern-india|title=Obituary: Dr Dhrubjyoti Ghosh, pioneer of wetland conservation in Eastern India|date=5 April 2018|work=iucn.org|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://www.livemint.com/Politics/RwzyqfFGfH7z3v6VupDhtK/Dhrubajyoti-Ghosh-wetlands-warrior-of-Kolkata-is-dead.html|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, wetlands warrior of Kolkata, is dead|last=Majumdar|first=Arkamoy Dutta|date=February 2018|website=Mint|url-status=live|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref> He is most credited for devoting his life for the survival of the [[East Kolkata Wetlands]], naming it, and creating the world's only fully functioning organic sewage management system.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.civilsocietyonline.com/mega-hall-of-fame/dhrubajyoti-ghosh/|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh - Civil Society Magazine|website=civilsocietyonline.com|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ramsar.org/news/dhrubajyoti-ghosh-to-receive-luc-hoffmann-award-for-work-on-wise-use-of-wetlands-in-kolkata|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh to receive Luc Hoffmann Award for work on wise use of wetlands in Kolkata|date=17 August 2016|website=Ramsar News|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Early life ==
He attended the [[University of Calcutta]] in [[West Bengal|West Bengal, India]], and was the first engineer of the university to graduate with a PhD in ecology. He went on to become a sanitation engineer for the West Bengal government, which brought the issues of the Kolkata Wetlands to his sites.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" />

== Work ==
Advocating nature-based solutions, Ghosh's work in the East Kolkata Wetlands showed it could be used for free-of-charge sewage work, fertile aquatic gardens and fisheries, and flood defences with minimal harm to the environment.<ref name=":0" />

Using his position in Ramsar, he secured the protection of the wetlands under the [[Ramsar Convention]]. This land soon became the world's only fully functional organic sewage management system, treating 750 million litres/day, using solar UV radiation to purify canals leading into the wetlands.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The wetlands are now under threat by developers, which Ghosh constantly resisted during his life.<ref name=":0" /> His main complaint on the upkeep of this project is that there is no large scale management or municipal ownership of the system to keep quality control, and there is currently no plans to change that.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1" />

His work included being chief of the Department of Environment of the Government of West Bengal, member of the board of trustees of the [[WWF-India|India World Wide Fund for Nature]], fellow of the [[National Institute of Sciences of India|National Institute of Sciences]] within the Government of India, member of the management board of the [[Ramsar Convention]], and a member of the National Wetland Committee.<ref name=":0" />

He died in [[Kolkata]] on February 16, 2018.<ref name=":0" />

== Other accomplishments ==

* 2005 - Published the book ''Ecology and Traditional Wetland Practice: Lessons from Wastewater Utilisation in the East Calcutta Wetlands''. In it he coined the term "cognitive apartheid", meaning the systematic exclusion of the knowledge of the poor by the elite. {{ISBN|9788190128155}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiawaterportal.org/articles/teachings-east-calcutta-wetlands|title=Teachings of the East Calcutta Wetlands|website=indiawaterportal.org|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scroll.in/article/869250/dhrubajyoti-ghosh-saviour-of-the-east-kolkata-wetlands-believed-in-people-and-not-policies|title=Dhrubajyoti Ghosh, saviour of the East Kolkata Wetlands, believed in people and not policies|website=Scroll.in|access-date=26 November 2019}}</ref>
* August 2016 - First Indian to earn the [[Luc Hoffmann]] Award, credited for his work on [[East Kolkata Wetlands|East Kolkata Wetland]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name="Ghosh"/>
* 2017 - Published the book ''The Trash Diggers'', exploring the lives of individuals living in a dump site on the fringes of eastern Kolkata. {{ISBN|9780199474141}}<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVpgvgAACAAJ|title=The Trash Diggers|last=Ghosh|first=Dhrubajyoti|date=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-947414-1}}</ref>
* Recognized as an [[Ashoka Fellow]].<ref name=":3" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Dhrubajyoti}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2018 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kolkata]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Indian environmentalists]]
[[Category:Indian ecologists]]

Dhrubajyoti Ghosh - Revision history

>SchreiberBike at 05:26, 30 October 2020