Principal Investigators’ Message

I warmly welcome you to the Decision Support System for Water Resource Management (DSS) initiative, envisioned as a comprehensive Small Rivers Management Tool (SRMT) for strengthening holistic and sustainable water governance in India.

As the Principal Investigator of this initiative, it is both an honor and a responsibility to lead a multidisciplinary effort aimed at addressing the growing complexities of water resource planning, river basin management, and climate-driven uncertainties. The DSS has been conceptualized as an integrated, science-driven platform that brings together hydrological and hydrogeological modeling, geospatial technologies, remote sensing, system dynamics, optimization techniques, and decision analytics.

This initiative places strong emphasis on integrating surface water, groundwater, and socio-hydrological processes within a unified framework, ensuring that water management decisions are not only technically robust but also socially relevant and environmentally sustainable. Special focus has been given to small river basins, where data scarcity and governance challenges demand innovative and scalable solutions.

A key objective of the DSS is to translate complex scientific analyses into intuitive, user-friendly tools for policymakers, planners, and implementing agencies. Through rigorous modeling combined with interactive visualization and scenario-based analysis, the system aims to reduce uncertainty and unintended consequences.

I sincerely acknowledge the support of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the India–Denmark partnership, and our esteemed partner institutions and collaborators. I deeply appreciate the dedication of the entire project team and look forward to meaningful stakeholder engagement through the successful implementation of the DSS.

Prof. Anurag Ohri

I am pleased to welcome you to the Decision Support System for Water Resource Management initiative, aimed at developing a Small Rivers Management Tool (SRMT) for holistic and sustainable water governance in India. It is a privilege to serve as a Principal Investigator of this initiative.

The project integrates state-of-the-art hydrological modeling, remote sensing, GIS, machine learning, and data-driven analytics into a comprehensive decision-support framework. Strong emphasis is placed on scientifically sound surface and groundwater modeling, climate impact assessment, and multi-source data integration.

Equal importance is given to translating complex scientific outputs into intuitive and operationally relevant tools for policymakers, planners, and implementing agencies, supporting informed and adaptive decision-making.

I sincerely thank the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Royal Danish Embassy for their support and facilitation of international cooperation. I also acknowledge our partner institutions— IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, and Hokkaido University — for their valuable contributions.

I extend my appreciation to all team members and collaborators whose dedication continues to drive this project forward. We look forward to meaningful stakeholder engagement and to contributing toward resilient, science-based, and inclusive water governance.

Dr. Pramod Soni