No safety issue with Mumbai's underground Metro corridor: MMRC MD

Rainwater entered the Acharya Atre Chowk Metro station at Worli Naka in central Mumbai at the concourse and platform levels of the city’s first underground Metro corridor, also known as the “Aqua Line”, when heavy rain lashed Mumbai on Monday.

Mumbai: Water seepage inside the Acharya Atre Chowk Metro station occurred due to a “sudden kind of event” and it could not be prevented, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) said on Tuesday, asserting that there is “no safety issue” with the underground Metro system.

In a video statement issued on Tuesday night, MMRC Managing Director Ashwini Bhide said there is absolutely no safety issue as far as the underground Metro is concerned and that all standard operating procedures (SOPs) were followed after Monday morning’s incident.

Rainwater entered the Acharya Atre Chowk Metro station at Worli Naka in central Mumbai at the concourse and platform levels of the city’s first underground Metro corridor, also known as the “Aqua Line”, when heavy rains lashed Mumbai on Monday.

The incident raised concerns over passenger safety on the corridor and triggered a political slugfest as well.

“This was a once-in-a-while kind of event,” Bhide said in a video statement lasting about five minutes, assuring passengers of safety on the 33-km underground corridor between Colaba-BKC-Aarey (JVLR).

She said the incident could not be prevented as it occurred suddenly, with around 90 mm of rainfall recorded in just one-and-a-half hours.

Bhide said the entire operational underground corridor between Aarey (JVLR) and Worli was safe, and more than 40,000 passengers travelled on it on the day.

“The entire corridor, except Acharya Atre Chowk, was absolutely safe and functioning normally,” she said.

She noted that as part of the SOPs, all people inside the station were immediately evacuated and Metro train operations at Acharya Atre Chowk were suspended.

She also assured that necessary precautions have been taken to prevent a recurrence of such incidents. A permanent protection wall is now being built to prevent water seepage into the station.

“Passenger safety is of utmost importance, and all standard protocols are being followed by the MMRC. We ensure that people travel in the safest and most comfortable manner,” Bhide said.

She also said that due to heavy rain and high tide, a large volume of water was backcharged, resulting in the accumulation of around 11 lakh litres of stormwater in a pit at one of the three under-construction entry-exits of the station.

Bhide said the pit could not sustain the volume of water, and after soil seepage, water entered the underground station up to the concourse and platform levels. However, there was no water inside the tunnels or on the tracks, and the train reversal facility continued to be used.

“We had a flood protection system in place in the form of a bund wall outside the entry-exit, but it was not designed for such an unprecedented event. So it could not withstand the pressure, and water entered the station,” she said.

Bhide, however, did not provide a deadline for the resumption of Metro operations from Acharya Atre Chowk.

“An exact date can’t be stated, but we are trying hard to restore it as soon as possible,” MMRC spokesperson Vaidehi More said.

The 12.69-km-long first phase of the underground Metro line between Aarey Colony (JVLR) and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 7, 2024. The second phase, spanning 9.77 km between BKC and Acharya Atre Chowk, was opened to the public on May 10.