CHENNAI: The city will be able to know which of its streets are likely to go under water three days before flooding incidents, if any, as the state government recently set up a new Integrated Flood Management Centre (IFMC) to tackle the northeast monsoon. The street-level prediction will let authorities plan rescue and relief operations, revenue and disaster management department secretary B Chandramohan said on Thursday.
Speaking at the Northeast Monsoon Seasonal Outlook Forum 2026 held at the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chandramohan said the centre will receive real-time data on the inflow and outflow of water from lakes and combine it with the rain forecasts issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). “By combining the data, the centre will predict street-level flooding three days before the actual flooding,” he added.
This would enable authorities to identify in advance which streets are likely to be inundated and take mitigation measures, he said. The system is currently being developed for the Chennai Metropolitan Area and, once operational, will provide authorities with sufficient time to plan rescue and relief measures.
The revenue and disaster management department has also identified 1,030 high and very-high flood-vulnerable locations and 1,003 medium-vulnerability locations across the state. Response and relief plans have been finalised for these vulnerable locations, Chandramohan said.
Further, he said the state currently has 1,400 automatic rain gauges, which provide rainfall data every 15 minutes. The government has planned to install another 1,000 automatic rain gauges by the end of the year. The objective is to eventually have automatic gauges in every village panchayat, he added.