Born in 1942, Mr Onta was a Civil Engineer graduated from the University of Engineering and Technology in Bangladesh (earlier East Pakistan), in 1966. He started off his career in 1967 as a Design Engineer at Department of Roads and shifted to water sector and worked as a water resources engineer. He was one of the founding Directors of engineering consulting firm East Consult (Pvt.) Ltd. established in Nepal in 1973. EastConsult is a leading consulting firm in Nepal in the field of engineering planning, design and construction supervision of infrastructure. He worked for many infrastructure projects carried out by EastConsult and was the Chairman of Board of Directors at EastConcult. He was the Strategy Advisor for Water Resources Strategy Formulation Project, Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS). He was the main author of the Water Sector Strategy for Nepal in 2002 and involved in preparing National Water Plan - Nepal in 2005. He was also the Water Resources Advisor for Water and Energy Commission, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal.
As a renowned water engineer in Nepal, he was the past president of several engineering organisations in Nepal including Nepal Engineers' Association, Nepal Engineering Council, Society of Consulting Architectural and Engineering Firms (SCAEF), Federation of Engineering Institutions of South and Central Asia (FEISCA), Nepal Council of Arbitration. Further he contributed with technical/professional articles on water resources for Oxford University Press publications.
Mr Onta had a long association with Jalsrot Vikas Sansta (JVS) Nepal (from its inception) and GWP and became the Regional Chair of GWP SAS in 2013. GWP Nepal is hosted by JVS which holds a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan professional status in Nepal. GWP SAS advanced further under the Chairmanship and guidance of Mr Onta and he strengthened the work-capacity of the GWP SAS Regional Office with the recruitment of new staff. GWP SAS initiated the Water and Climate Resilience Programme (WACREP) in South Asia in 2013 under the guidance of Mr Onta. He strengthened GWP SAS’s relationship with the host institution of GWP SAS, International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and the GWP SAS and IWMI collaboration to develop the South Asia Drought Monitoring System (SADMS) was initiated during his tenure as the Regional Chair. Mr Onta chaired three Regional Council meetings and ended his tenure in December 2015 and was actively involved with GWP SAS activities until February 2016.
As the Chair of GWP SAS he gave energy and inspiration to the entire GWP network with his knowledge, professionalism, kindness, smile and positive attitude.
Mr Onta was married to Mrs Sarada Onta and was a loving father of two daughters and a son.
(Mr and Mrs Onta in Colombo, 2014)