Ideaz

Every monsoon, cities struggle with flooding. Roads gets flooded, traffic comes to a halt, and people’s homes and shops are damaged. What makes it worse is that most of this rainwater simply runs off into drains instead of being saved even though many places face serious water shortages during the year. This is something I’ve seen myself, and it feels like such a waste.

Right now, drainage systems in most cities are old and reactive. They get cleaned only after complaints, or once flooding has already started. There’s also very little connection between drains and rainwater harvesting. Even in places where rainwater harvesting exists, it’s usually manual and not smart enough to adapt during heavy rains. As a result, cities end up with both flooding and wasted water.

That’s why I thought of SmartDrain—a system that makes drains “smart”. It uses sensors to monitor water levels, blockages, and even gases inside drains. If there’s a risk of flooding, it sends alerts instantly to local authorities through an app. At the same time, when it rains normally, the system can divert clean water into storage tanks. This way, we prevent floods and also store water for later use.

The benefits are simple: cleaner streets, less flooding, and extra water for households and communities. Cities save money on emergency fixes, and as the creator, I can sustain the project through device sales and services.

For me, this matters because I’ve seen how life in cities just stops during heavy rains. If we can stop floods and save water at the same time.