SHASHIDHAR SHIRAHATTI
Professor & Head, Dept of Natural Resources Management,
College of Forestry, SIRSI 581 401, Karnataka, India
Phone:
Email:
+91 94815 46426
ssshirahatti@gmail.com
Brief Overview
Over 2 decade’s of experience in teaching & proficient at interpreting textbook & curriculum creatively & able to step
beyond their confines. Presently associated as Professor with the College of Agricultural Engineering and Chief Trainer,
CADA Project for training Irrigators in computer assisted water allocation. Specializes in hydrology & water resources
engineering and irrigation water management. Effective communicator with excellent skills in presentation, mentoring &
motivation. A thorough professional with a proactive attitude, capable of thinking in & out of the box. Have published
numerous research articles in conference proceedings, books, and refereed journals.
Academics
1983
B.E (Civil Engineering) from Gulbarga University with First class with distinction.
1989
1997
M.E (Civil - Water Resources Engineering) from UVCE, Bangalore University. Secured 3rd Rank.
Ph. D (Soil and Water Engineering) from CoAE, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana
SPECIALISATION
Hydrology, Water Resources Engineering, Irrigation Water Management, Command Area Development,
Work Experience
Since Aug’89 till date with University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
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As Professor and Head (Soil & Water Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering /Natural Resources Management,
College of Forestry, Sirsi) (Aug 2005 till date)
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As Associate Professor (Irrigation & Drainage Engg.) (Aug’97- Aug ‘05 )
As Assistant Professor (Soil & Water Conservation Engineering) (Aug’89-Aug’97)
Key Result Areas:
 Teaching under graduate/ graduate/ B.Tech (Agri. Engg.)/ M.Tech (Agri. Engg.) students as per academic curriculum.
 Guide for three Ph.D. students four M.Tech. students for their theses research.
 Recognizing, respecting & nurturing the creative potential of each student.
 Responding queries in a spontaneous manner with accountability on fostering a healthy learning atmosphere in class.
 Preparing exercises, questionnaires, assignments for students at various levels.
 Assisting & counseling students in choosing courses, colleges and careers.
 Heading the Dept. of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering and furnishing the software and AV base in laboratories.
Since April 04 with Command Area Development Authority for Upper Krishna Project /Karnataka Engineering
Research Station, as a Chief Trainer/ Principal Investigator
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Leader in developing integrated software as well as formulating, designing & imparting hands on training programs to
the farmers from Water Users Associations and various Departmental officials, which will help them quantify the optimal
water required at different managerial points, for different seasons, for alternate cropping patterns.
April ’00 – October ‘03 with National Agricultural Technology Research Project as Principal Investigator
A World Bank/ ICAR project on NATP/ CGP 54
Key Result Areas:
 Working on “Synthesis of Design, Operation and Management of Surface Conveyance Irrigation System” project.
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Devising strategies for smooth execution of the project for computer assisted irrigation water management.
Adopting irrigation water management models on water deliveries at various management points and for building up of
water logging situation.
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Developed WUAS-D computer model to quantify water to be delivered to various Water Users Associations under a
tertiary canal based on optimal crop water needs.
The integrated use of the model (with CRIWAR model: developed by ILRI, The Netherlands) was demonstrated in
the Tungabhadra irrigation project. Water Managers from Dept. of Irrigation/ Command Area Development Authority
were trained in the use of the software for their water distribution activities.
May’84-Aug’89 with Govt. of Karnataka, Dept. of Irrigation, Malaprabha Irrigation project, Karnataka as Project
Engineer. (Industrial Experience)
- Managed the field irrigation water at the Malaprabha Right Bank Canal Command area.
Mar’83-Apr’84 with BLDEA College of Engineering & Technology, Bijapur as Lecturer (Civil Engineering) to B.E.
(Civil Engg.) students.
Taught various courses and guided student projects to B.E. (Civil) students.
Professional Affiliations
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- American Society of Agric. Engineers
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences
- International Water Resources Association
- Institution of Engineers (India) - Fellow
- Indian Society for Technical Education
Honors & Awards
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UAS Merit Incentive Award for successful handling of internationally funded research projects; valuing over INR 2.5
Million in 2001.
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Deputation to USA by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Govt. of India, to present a research paper based on
Ph.D. research “Inverse modeling for assessment of net recharge to be prescribed in MODFLOW” at MODFLOW 98
international conference held in Golden, Colorado, organized by United States Geological Survey and US Army Corps
of Engineers. (1998)
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Panelist in French Embassy workshops on water management conducted by Indo-French Groundwater Research
Commission in Bangalore (2000) and NGRI, Hyderabad (2001).
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Invited by the INPIM/World Bank in the Tehran congress held in May 2007 to present success story of Training
programme for the Water Users Associations and line Dept. officials.
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Visited Montpellier, France in September 2008 for presentation of research paper on Capacity Building of Watershed
Managers.
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Invited by the UN Organisation for ICT for Development to showcase the Watershed Hydrology Analyser model in the
visioning workshop, December 2007,
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Irrigation water allocation model developed was included in the inaugural version of the website
www.indiawaterportal.org/kannada/ which was commissioned by the National Knowledge Commission, Govt. of India.
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Awarded (i) PAU merit fellowship & (ii) Lloyd Steel Company’s National Merit Scholarship during Ph. D studies.
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Chaired two sessions in the Joint International Convention of 8 th IAHS scientific assembly & 37th IAH congress held in
Hyderabad during 6-12 September 2009 where scientists from more than 60 countries participated. Themes: Hydro
informatics in hydrology, hydrogeology and water resources ; and Groundwater Quality and pollution in hard rock
aquifers
Ph. D. Thesis: Simulation & Optimization for Management of Water Resources in a canal command area.
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Training Attended
Irrigation & Hydraulic Engineering
USAID Training in Micro Computer Applications in Irrigation Water Management
ILRI- Indo Dutch Training in Computer Applications in Irrigation & Drainage
GIS for Land Resource Data Management
Short term course in IT Applications in Civil Engineering
International Course on Increasing Water Use Efficiency in Agriculture
Date of Birth: 11 October, 1959
Publications of Dr. S. S. SHIRAHATTI
Published in Refereed Journals
Shirahatti, S.S., Satish Kumar U., Athavale G.V., Shirahatti, M.S. and Yaranal Ravindra, 1996, Study
of water and soil erosion from small agricultural watersheds. Journal of Soil and water
Conservation, 40(1&2): 72-73
Shirahatti, S.S., Polisgowdar, B.S. and Thokal, R.T., 2003, Modelling the allocation of water to WUAs
under a distributory in Tungabhadra irrigation project in India. Irrigation and Drainage
Abstracts. CAB Publishers, UK, 29(5): 508.
Rega, Ganesh Babu and Shirahatti, S.S., 2005, Effect of application of ground water model SGMP to
Gangavati command area on the water table build up and drainage surplus. Karnataka
Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 18(1): 71-74.
Shirahatti, S.S. and.Khepar, S.D., 2007, Inverse modelling for assessment of net recharge to be
prescribed in MODFLOW, Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 20(2) 333-334
Shirahatti, S.S., Ayyanagowdar, M.S. and Polisgowdar, B.S., 2007, Computer based water allocation
to water users’ associations- a model for water management officials, Karnataka Journal of
Agricultural Sciences, 20(2) 335-337
Shirahatti, S.S. and Khepar, S.D., 2007, Response matrix approach for management of water resources
in a canal command area, Karnataka Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 20(2) 342-345
Shirahatti, S. S., Kammar, M.R. and Prakash, K.V., 2010, Agricultural engineering interventions to
increase the efficiency of women in agriculture: some studies from India. International J.
agric. Engineering, 3(2) 243-250
b) Books Published/ Edited
Chapters/ Papers in standard books.
Shirahatti, S.S., 2000, Modelling of nitrate pollution in ground waters of Ludhiana. In: Ground water
2000 (Eds. Rosjberg et al.) Balkema Publishers, The Netherlands, pp. 281-282. ISBN 90
5809 133 3.
Shirahatti, S.S. and Khepar, S.D., 2004, Simulation and optimization for management of water
resources in a canal command area. In: Natural Resources Engineering and Management
and Agro Environmental Engineering, Anamaya Publishers, pp. 150-155. ISBN 81 88342
521.
Ayyanagowdar, M.S., Shirahatti, S.S and Santana Bosu, S. , 2009, Development of canal design
software as an educational tool, paper- No. 4203: Red Book for the JS4 section of the 8th
IAHS Scientific Assembly, Hyderabad. ISSN 0144- 7815