Zohran Mamdani administration: Who is environmental protection chief Indian-origin Rohit Aggarwala and why did he step down?

New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection commissioner Rohit Aggarwala resigned, who was appointed by previous Mayor Eric Adams.Aggarwala announced on Wednesday in a letter to staff, which said in part, "The Deputy Mayor has asked me to stay on briefly to ensure a smooth transition, but I expect my final day at DEP will be January 30, 2026," as per ABC News. Aggarwala, a government veteran who also served in the Bloomberg administration, joined the DEP in February 2022 and was commissioner during all four years Mayor Eric Adams was in office. Mayor Zohran Mamdani was expected to name Aggarwala’s successor in the near future. The resignation came one day after Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol notified Mamdani that he would also be stepping down in early February. Both made combatting the effects of climate change, specifically increasing flooding, the focuses of their tenures in office.He is a senior urban policy and climate leader, who previously served as New York City’s Chief Climate Officer (2022–2025), overseeing citywide climate planning and implementation of Local Law 97, after holding leadership roles at Sidewalk Labs (Google), Bloomberg Associates, and C40 Cities, according to his LinkedIn profile. He did his PhD from Columbia University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.It seems that he completed his schooling from St. Stephen School.