The former DHS official and founder of American Society of Engineers from India, Hari Babu battled Covid for four week.
Hari Babu Bindal, 76, who lived in Bowie, MD, in the Washington, D.C., metro area, passed away peacefully on November 8, 2020. He fought a very tough four-week battle with Covid.
Bindal was born in Mewali District, a small village in Agra, in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and immigrated to the United States in 1973. He holds dual Masters in Environmental Engineering and Public Health Engineering.
Bindal worked as an environmental engineer with pride for a number of U.S. government departments and agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the US Air Force and the US Coast Guard. After 26 years of distinguished service, he retired in 2014.
With the objective of exchanging and collaborating technologies between India and the United States Bindal founded the ASEI (American Society of Engineers from India) in 1983. Today, ASEI is a national organization with chapters across the country and hundreds of members.
He was a prominent figure in the local community. He was always inspired and involved in the interest of his mother country. His contributions to the Ganga Rejuvenation Project further earned him the “Pravasi Bharatiya Samman” in 2017, presented by the President of India.
In 2019, he received the “Pravasi UP Ratna” Award from the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, his home state in India.
Bindal was a very proud and devoted Hindu. He was a very active member and mentor in numerous organizations supporting rural education, cultivating Hindu heritage and bridging faiths and cultures at the local and national levels including ILA, ICCC, IAFPE, IHA, VHPA, HAF and UHJT. In 2018, he rebuilt and expanded the temple in his home village and has been providing scholarships and school supplies over the last 20 years to encourage education in rural India.
On a personal level, Bindal enjoyed writing stories and poetry. He also self-published an autobiography.
He and his son Neeraj jointly produced an Indian feature film, Akankhsa, in 1990. He loved experiencing the different cultures of the world and has traveled to more than 50 countries on five continents.
Just weeks before his death, in September 2020, he started his own consulting company, Enviro A to Z, LLC.
Bindal is survived by his wife of 52 years, Lalit; son Neeraj and his wife, Diana, and their recently born daughter, Sahana; daughter, Neerja and son-in-law Steve, and their two daughters, Priya and Karina; and an extended family in Agra that will miss him dearly.