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SIH26161SoftwareDisaster Management
₹1,50,000 Prize (₹75k Joint)
•
Deadline: 20 September 2026
•
Submitted Ideas: 0/500

Dam Break Inundation Modelling Using Hydrodynamic Modelling of any River

Ministry / Organization: National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)
SIH Official PortalDataset Repository
Technical Complexity
8/10
Dataset Accessibility
9/10
36h Hackathon Viability
8/10
Step 0 • Zero-Jargon Layman Summary

“When natural dams or man-made reservoirs collapse, massive floods devastate downstream regions with little warning. We are building a software tool that automatically simulates these dam break scenarios using satellite maps and elevation data, predicting flooded areas and generating maps to save lives.”

The DecodeX PS Decoder™

Deconstructed Problem Blueprint

Step 1

WHAT TO BUILD?

A web-based hydrodynamic simulation software framework with a graphical dashboard that integrates Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) and Delft3D principles, allowing users to input dam details, run flash flood breach scenarios, visualize inundation plumes on maps, and export shapefiles or KMLs.

Step 2

WHO IS IT FOR?

National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMA), and district administration officials handling Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).

Step 3

WHY DOES IT EXIST?

Current disaster response is reactive rather than predictive. Manual flood modeling takes days of expert computation, delaying evacuation planning. Unmapped natural lakes in high altitudes (like Rishiganga) break unexpectedly, causing catastrophic flash floods before authorities can estimate impact zones.

Step 4

INPUT → PROCESS → OUTPUT ARCHITECTURE PIPELINE

01 • Inputs & Telemetry

Open-source Digital Elevation Models (ASTER/STRM DEM), satellite imagery (Sentinel/Landsat via Google Earth Engine), dam geometry parameters (reservoir capacity, breach width, water level), and river network shapefiles.

02 • Processing & AI Core

Parsing DEM topography, calculating flood propagation velocity and volume using SPH/simplified shallow-water hydrodynamic equations, estimating downstream impact zones, and rendering inundation depth grids.

03 • Actionable Deliverables

An interactive web dashboard showing flood spread over time, asset/population vulnerability metrics, and downloadable GIS-ready `.shp` (Shapefile) and `.kml` (Google Earth) files for rescue teams.

Step 5

CONSTRAINTS

  • Must handle large geospatial raster datasets without crashing browser memory
  • Simulation results must render in near real-time (< 3 minutes for a river reach)
  • Must support open-source data pipelines without requiring paid commercial GIS licenses
  • Must accurately export standard GIS formats (.shp, .kml) for compatibility with external software like QGIS or ArcGIS
Step 6

JURY METRICS

  • Speed and smoothness of the interactive dashboard UI during flood progression playback
  • Accuracy of the generated inundation boundary compared against historical flood marks
  • Seamlessness of Google Earth Engine integration for near real-time satellite data retrieval
  • Clarity and completeness of exported spatial files (.shp / .kml)
Step 7

CORE BOTTLENECK

Balancing the heavy mathematical computation of hydrodynamic/SPH models so that they run fast enough inside a web framework during a 3-minute jury pitch without timing out or crashing.

Why You Should Choose This PS (Pros)

  • Extremely high national security and social impact aligned directly with India's disaster management priorities
  • Clear, highly structured deliverables demanded by NTRO (dashboards, SPH/Delft3D comparison, KML/Shapefile exports)
  • Strong visual 'wow factor' during the final presentation via 3D/2D animated flood inundation maps

Challenges & Risks to Watch (Cons)

  • Complex mathematical modeling requirements (hydrodynamics and SPH can be intimidating to implement from scratch)
  • Heavy geospatial datasets require optimized handling to prevent memory leaks in web applications
  • High competition as disaster management is a popular theme
Hackathon Blueprint

Recommended Tech Stack & Grand Finale Features

Frontend & Mobile
React.jsTailwind CSSMapbox GL JS / Leaflet.jsDeck.gl for 3D geospatial visualization
Backend & APIs
FastAPI (Python)Celery for asynchronous simulation tasksGeopandas / NumPy / SciPy for spatial and hydrodynamic math
AI / ML & Models
Simplified 2D Shallow Water Equations / SPH approximation solversGoogle Earth Engine Python API
Database & Cloud
PostgreSQL with PostGIS extensionRedis for task queue cachingMinIO / Local File Storage for DEM and raster outputs

Killer Features to Impress the SIH Jury

Instant Scenario Switcher: Compare SPH vs Delft3D simplified hydrodynamic models side-by-side with diff overlays
One-Click HADR Evacuation Planner: Automatically highlights hospitals, schools, and roads submerged within the inundation zone
Live GEE Near-Real-Time Overlay: Fetch pre- and post-flood satellite imagery dynamically using Google Earth Engine
Instant Export Engine: One-click export of flood boundary polygons into standard .shp and .kml packages
View Official SIH 2026 Portal Raw Text
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•Background In India, due to natural disaster various natural dam / lake formations were observed which can be a major reason of flash flood in the lower catchment, for example, natural lake formed over the Rishi Ganga river of Uttarakhand in Feb 2021, Wapriyang river in Nov 2021, Phuktal river near Sumdo, J&K in Mar 15, Kosi river in 2008 etc. Devastating flood happened in the Kashmir valley, Assam in 2014 and many other places over a period of time. Therefore, simulation modelling for flash flood and scenario generation is important from Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) point of view. Another important aspect is water release issues from the Dam of major rivers. In the crisis situation, if the dam brakes, how much water will flow into the river and what are the area it will inundated / impacted need to be estimated. In order to carry out this work simulation modelling needs to be done for the same. In other way if any dam break situation happened then what will be the impacted area. Development of a modelling framework is required which will carry out simulation modelling for the same.
•Description The above problem statement envisages that a software tool need to be developed which should automatically carry out the simulation modelling for Dam break analysis and identify the inundated area due to flash flood in the lower catchment. The modelling framework should be developed using hydrological data, DEM and satellite imagery of any river. The software/ tools should be capable of carrying out the simulation modelling of water flow in case of dam break or water release through ‘Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics’ and ‘Delf3D’ model and compare the scenario.
•Expected Solution/Deliverables The proposed study aims to illustrate the current problems regarding framework generation of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief using simulation modelling related to flood management as follows:
i.Creation of generalized modelling framework to predict / simulate dam break/ river blockage analysis providing the necessary inputs on the basis of sudden water surge as well as loss and damage analysis using ‘Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics model and Delf3D model’.
ii.Building a customized tool/ framework so that it is possible to generate a flood inundation simulation scenario using different input datasets.
iii.Developing a Dashboard for providing modelling input and output visualization framework (GUI). The program should support the large volume of data. Output should be converted to .shp or .Kml file.
iv.Additionally, developing a framework for near real time flood analysis through Google Earth Engine with the help of open source data.
v.Simulation needs to be done by taking the any river and Dam data (open source) of India during the final demonstration of the software.