VIJAYAWADA: In a major initiative to shield Andhra Pradesh’s urban centres from devastating deluges, the State government is deploying an AI-powered early warning system designed to predict flash floods hours before water hits the streets.
Officially named City Flood Alert, the platform is being launched first in Vijayawada to tackle the city’s longstanding battle with the volatile Budameru stream, before being expanded across all Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in the state.
Developed by the Real Time Governance Society’s (RTGS) AWARE division in close collaboration with the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) and hydrological experts from IIT Gandhinagar, the initiative marks a fundamental shift from reactive relief distribution to predictive engineering.
The platform equips municipal and emergency agencies with a 48-hour advance outlook on heavy rainfall and up to a six-hour warning window for sudden flash floods.
While Vijayawada serves as the operational launchpad, the state government has designed the initiative as a comprehensive, statewide urban safety net. Following the Vijayawada rollout, every town and city in Andhra Pradesh will undergo digital terrain mapping and flood-risk modelling to build an interconnected, intelligent monitoring network across all ULBs.
To create Vijayawada’s digital twin, engineers mapped the city ward by ward using high-resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) derived from satellite imagery. This allowed technicians to map terrain elevations, natural drainage channels, and low-lying residential pockets with high precision.
By feeding nearly three decades of historical Budameru flood data into the predictive model, the system can simulate exactly how floodwaters will move, pool, and overflow under varying rainfall scenarios.
Crucially, the platform does not merely predict surface water levels; it also pinpoints specific underground and surface drainage channels where heavy silt accumulation could cause backflow. This allows municipal sanitation teams to target and clear high-risk bottlenecks before monsoon downpours begin. The operational workflow is designed to ensure zero delay between detection and field action. The moment the platform flags an incoming flood risk, automated alerts and spatial data are generated and dispatched straight to the APSDMA.
Disaster management officials will then issue immediate, targeted advisories directly to District Collectors, Municipal Commissioners, ward administrative officers, and ground-level response units. Officials emphasise that this crucial advance lead time will enable civic authorities to clear clogged culverts, pre-position dewatering pumps, manage traffic diversions, and execute orderly evacuations of residents in low-lying colonies.
The core technology builds on Flood Astra, an urban flood-forecasting model previously piloted in Gurugram by researchers at IIT Gandhinagar, which Andhra Pradesh customised and integrated into its RTGS AWARE infrastructure to set a new benchmark for tech-driven urban safety.