Dr. Madhav Chitale is the foremost authority on various fields and aspects of Irrigation, Water Resources and Engineering. In his illustrious career, he worked as a Secretary to the Govt. of Maharashtra in the Irrigation Department (1981-83) for the development of command areas of the Canal Irrigation Projects, for the planning, management & construction of Hydro-electric projects and for handling of the interstate water related matters including interstate projects. He has been Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources (Govt. of India), Secretary General of International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), Member of Foundation Committee of World Water Council and later Member of Board of Governors of World Water Council. He was also honoured with Stockholm Water Prize, which is described by Sweden as the Noble Prize of Water. He has led various National and International commissions and committees as a Member and Chairman. He is considered as friend, guide & philosopher by several activist groups, NGOs and international bodies. He is perhaps the most obvious choice for the Honour of Vasundhara Sanman and befittingly enough on the occasion of Water Day. The celebration of this day was introduced by him in India (in 1986), a practice that the UN too adopted since 1994.