Resilient HydroTwin

The Resilient HydroTwin is a multidisciplinary project that envisions developing an intricate city-scale digital twin, unifying diverse system models such as hydrological, hydraulic, water resource management, resilience, and governance to enhance disaster response to urban water-related extremities, specifically floods. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India (DST), with a research team comprising both academic partners (TU Delft, The Netherlands; TU Eindhoven, The Netherlands; and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras) and industry partners (Arup in Amsterdam, Defacto Urbanism, BancoLAB, Bentley Systems, Okapi Research & Advisory, and Care Earth Trust). The digital twin will enable bi-directional data exchange, allowing not only real-time monitoring of physical systems but also the flow of data from the digital model back to the physical systems, providing inputs to optimize their performance. This, in turn, will contribute to strengthening urban resilience.

The Tambaram Corporation has been chosen as the study site for the pilot project. A critical aspect of this pilot is to identify and analyse governance challenges from the perspectives of primary stakeholders, with a focus on vulnerable areas and communities most at risk from flooding. By understanding administrative frameworks, policy implementation, and the stakeholder network, the research aims to identify gaps during real-time disasters and contribute to building a robust digital twin. This digital twin will also facilitate decision support for both immediate response and long-term planning, ultimately enhancing resilience and disaster response strategies of Tambaram Municipal Corporation.