1.Prof. Veer Bhadra Mishra
Founding President SMF
Former Professor of Hydraulic Engineering, Former Head, Civil Engineering Department, Institute of Tehnology, BHU Varanasi
Mahant (High Priest) Sankat Mochan Temple, Varanasi
Dr. Veer Bhadra Mishra(Mahantji) is the founding president of the Sankat Mochan Foundation. He is a former professor of Hydraulic engineering and former Head of the Civil Engineering Department at the Banaras Hindu University. He is also the Mahant (High Priest) of the Sankat Mochan Temple at Varanasi founded by poet-saint Goswami Tulsidas. Dr Mishra was recognized on the United Nations Environmental Program's Global 500 Roll of Honour in 1992, and was a TIME Magazines "Hero of the Planet" recipient in 1999 for his work related to cleaning of Ganga through the Sankat Mochan Foundation.
His education has helped him understand threats to the Ganges, and since 1982 he has struggled to open the eyes of bureaucrats and the public. Supported in part by aid from the various individuals and some Govt. agensies of U.S. and Sweden, Mishra juggles his roles as priest and activist.
Motivated most of all by "respect and love for the river," Mishra, working with William Oswald, an engineering professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, proposed what is called an Advanced Integrated Wastewater oxidation Pond System (AIWPS). It would store sewage for 45 days, using bacteria and algae to eliminate waste and purify the water. Mishra expects the plan to be adopted but recalls past defeats. "My campaign has been like a game of snakes and ladders. When it has gained speed, a snake has swallowed it up," he says. "But one day I'll dodge all the snakes. Mother Ganges will help me to save her." That's another chant the followers of this modern mahant can truly believe in.
 | Quotes from Mahanthji
- This is not visionary, it is simply essential (Regarding cleaning of River Ganga)
- Science and technology are one bank of the river, and religion,
tradition and faith are the other bank of the river. Both the banks
need to be firm, and only then can the river maintain the flow. - Please consider them an endangered species, these people who still
have this faith, this living relationship with the river. If birds can
be saved, if plants can be saved, let this species of people be saved
by granting them holy water" - I am a part of Ganga and Ganga is a part of me. I want not a single drop of sewage going into the river.
- When I talk to officials, I show them reports on fecal coliform, and
when I talk to local people, I show them there is s___ in the holy
Ganges. It is the same thing, but I say it in different languages. - But one day I'll dodge all the snakes (bureacratic and political obstacles). Mother Ganges will help me to save her
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2. Prof. S.K.Mishra
Founder Member & Director SMF,
Former Professor of Water Resources and Hydraulic Engg.,
Institute of Technology, BHU Varanasi
3. Dr. S.N.Upadhyay
Founder Member & Director, SMF,
Professor of Chemical Engineering &
Director, Institute of Technology, BHU Varanasi
4. Dr. D.K.Sundd
Executive Director, SMF
Retd. officer of Central Water Commission
5. Dr. V.N.Mishra
Development Director, SMF
Reader, Dept. of Electronics Engineering
Institute of Technology, BHU Varanasi
6. Shri Bodhishwar Rai
Founder Member
Ex-Deputy Managing Director,
State Bank of India
7. Shri Umesh Chandra Tewari
Secretary, SMF
Advocate
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