From Maps to Models : Visioning Workshop in Chennai

The Resilient HydroTwin (RHT) Visioning Workshop was held on 28 January 2026 at the IIT Madras Research Park . This is the second in a series of workshops planned under the Resilient Hydrotwin project.

The workshop brought together stakeholders from government departments, academia, NGOs, and architects, including representatives from Tambaram City Municipal Corporation (TCMC), Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department (WRD), Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation Limited (IFMC), Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA), Institute for Transport and Development Policy (ITDP), Care Earth Trust, IITM Pravartak INSPAN project, SECON, Sponge Collaborative, Shreya Krishnan Design Office (SKDO) , Madras Terrace Architects, TU Delft and TU Eindhoven to collaboratively envision adaptive strategies for managing urban flood risks.

Technical sessions introduced the integrated Digital Twin framework, combining flood hazard modelling, infrastructure systems, transport operations, and behavioral models to support evidence-based decision-making.

The highlight of the workshop was the participatory mapping exercise, where stakeholders worked with flood depth maps (1 in 100-year rainfall) to identify grey infrastructure improvements, Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) interventions, and operational measures to build flood resilience in Tambaram.

The key measures discussed by the stakeholders include:

• Strengthening stormwater drainage networks
• Deepening and desilting water bodies
• Establishing river buffer zones
• Deploying sensor-based monitoring systems
• Implementing real-time flood forecasting (RTFF)
• Developing sponge parks and retention areas

A parallel session focused on defining dynamic road transport resilience thresholds during flood events, highlighting the complexity of setting “acceptable” flood limits for pedestrians and different vehicle types in Indian urban contexts. The inputs from the session would help build the behavioural model for Tambaram.

The workshop marked a foundational step in providing a platform to gather stakeholder insights that would act as inputs for modelling the intervention scenarios. The next phase will involve scenario testing and integration of these measures into Digital Twin for participatory resilience building.