Ramachandran.A from Okapi Research & Advisory presented a paper under the theme Urban Water Management and Water Infrastructure at the conference, Cities of Care: Shaping Sustainable and Equitable Futures through the Water–Food–Waste Nexus, held at the IIT Madras Research Park (IITMRP), Chennai, on 30-31 January 2026.
The study is part of the broader Resilient Hydro Twin IIT-M project supported by Department of Science & Technology (DST). This multidisciplinary project aims to develop a city-scale Digital Twin for strengthening flood resilience, with an emphasis on leveraging and promoting participatory and integrated decision-making.
The paper “Collaborations: Critical Pathways for Resilient Flood Management - A Case Study from the Chennai Metropolitan Area” delves into flood management in the Tambaram City Municipal Corporation (TCMC), a newly formed urban local body that is witnessing rapid urbanization and institutional transition. The research applied Social Network Analysis (SNA) to unpack complex relationships and interactions among multiple flood governance actors.
Key findings include:
- Flood governance in Tambaram is highly centralized, with TCMC and the district disaster management authority emerging as core coordinating actors.
- Communication networks exhibit a hierarchical structure, with information flows concentrated among a few agencies, creating potential coordination bottlenecks during extreme events.
- Collaboration networks show higher density, indicating policy-mandated joint working; however, collaboration remains largely event-driven and reactive.
- Planning and mitigation-oriented institutions, particularly metropolitan planning agencies, remain under-integrated in operational flood governance despite their critical long-term risk-reduction role.
- Institutional emphasis remains largely toward response and recovery rather than preparedness and mitigation.
The findings highlight that recurrent flooding in the Chennai Metropolitan Area reflects not only hydrological factors but also fragmented or weak governance structures. Strengthening inter-agency coordination, formalising communication protocols beyond emergency periods, integrating planning institutions into operational governance, and embedding community participation through Digital Twin–enabled platforms can support a transition from reactive to anticipatory flood management.
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