Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan launched a new urban river-management framework and an AI-driven reservoir sediment tool at India's largest water-policy gathering in New Delhi.

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• Vice President C. P. Radhakrishnan launched the Sustainable Urban River Management (SURM) Framework and an AI/ML-driven Integrated Reservoir Sediment Management initiative on September 22, 2026.
• Both were unveiled at the 9th India International Water Week (IIWW) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, as steps toward technology-enabled, climate-resilient water management.
• The Vice President said climate change, rapid urbanisation and population growth were making water management increasingly complex across India.
• He called for an integrated approach combining river-basin management, groundwater recharge, rainwater harvesting and efficient irrigation.
• Radhakrishnan stressed that cooperation among states is central to resolving water-sharing disputes between regions facing floods and drought simultaneously.
• He said "Jal Suraksha will lead to Jan Suraksha and Rashtra Suraksha," linking water security to citizen and national security.
• Union Jal Shakti Minister C. R. Patil, Ministers of State V. Somanna and Raj Bhushan Choudhary, and Central Water Commission Chairman Anupam Prasad attended the launch.
• The SURM launch builds on the Ministry of Jal Shakti's wider urban river push, under which the National Mission for Clean Ganga has completed Urban River Management Plans for 13 Ganga-basin cities.
• That NMCG initiative, developed with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, is being scaled toward 60 Ganga-basin cities, with a long-term goal of covering all 97 cities along the river's main stem.
• The underlying framework rests on a 10-point agenda covering floodplain regulation, wetland restoration, riparian-buffer protection and reuse of treated wastewater.