India is well on its way to becoming an economic powerhouse, but like in most developing nations, environment, health and hygiene are major concerns. WPC 2013 focused on these three concerns as the central theme for deliberations. The aim of the Conference was to focus attention on plumbing as an integral part of the construction business, directly affecting the health of a nation. The three Technical Sessions covered different aspects of plumbing, sanitation, education, supply-chain management and lack of sufficient professional expertise and coordination among different governmental bodies.
The Conference hall was packed to capacity with 600 delegates from different parts of the world including Australia, China, Scotland, Germany, UK, Canada, Poland, New Zealand, Switzerland, UAE, USA, Singapore, South Africa and parts of India.
In a short ceremony, Mr Robert Burgon, CEO SNIPEF, Scotland, the host of the 9th World Plumbing Conference, held in Edinburgh, handed over the WPC Roll of Honour to the host of this 10th World Plumbing Conference, Mr Sudhakaran Nair, in his capacity as the President of the IPA. Sudhakaran Nair, in his opening address extended a warm welcome to everyone. He stressed the need for stringent regulatory and administrative checks to ensure sanitation and health of the people. He underlined the urgent need for a strong support from the government to spread plumbing education in India and added that “Plumbers are a nation’s health workers and this conference is being held to let India and the world better understand the role of plumbers for a healthy society”.