Video: Hours Before Inauguration, Water Leakage At Pune Metro Station

A water leakage incident at Pune's Maan Metro Station has raised questions over construction quality just a day before the inauguration of the Shivajinagar-Hinjewadi-Maan Metro corridor.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is set to inaugurate the metro corridor tomorrow. Ahead of the launch, visuals showing rainwater leaking inside the newly built station surfaced on social media, triggering questions about the quality of the infrastructure and passenger safety.

Following the incident, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) issued a clarification late Sunday night, stating that the leakage at PMR-01 station was not due to any structural defect.

According to PMRDA, the leakage was caused by a temporary blockage in the rainwater drainage pipe located on the terrace slab of the station's entry structure. As the terrace slab is open to the sky, rainwater accumulated and overflowed after the drainage pipe got blocked.

The authority said the water then seeped through the gap between the station box and the entry structure, becoming visible at the mezzanine level of the station.

PMRDA Chief Engineer Rinaz Pathan said the blockage had been cleared and the rainwater drainage system had been restored.

The authority maintained that there was no structural defect in either the station box or the entry structure and that the issue resulted solely from the temporary blockage in the drainage system.

PMRDA Commissioner Dr Abhijit Chaudhari had told reporters on Saturday that Pune Metro Line-3 is a 23.203-km fully elevated metro corridor, popularly known as the "Puneri Metro" and the "Pink Line".

The corridor originates at Maan and passes through Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park in Hinjawadi before connecting to Shivajinagar, one of Pune's major administrative and commercial centres.

The total estimated cost of the project, including land acquisition and utility shifting, is Rs 8,313 crore. The project has been executed under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), in line with the Central government's National Metro Rail Policy, 2017.

Under the concession agreement signed with PMRDA, the project is being implemented by Pune IT City Metro Rail Limited (PITCMRL), a special purpose vehicle formed through a joint venture between TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited and Siemens Project Ventures GmbH.

17 Stations To Open Initially

Out of the 23 stations on the corridor, 17 will be opened for passenger services from November 3.

Seven stations will begin operations with only one staircase functional. These are Maan, Maan-MIDC Circle Phase-2, Maan-Bus Depot, Hinjawadi Phase-2 Circle-1, Padmabhushan Chowk, College of Agriculture and District and Sessions Court stations.

The remaining 10 stations will be opened with both staircases operational. These include Hinjawadi Phase-2 Circle-2, Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk (Hinjawadi), Hinjawadi Phase-1, Wakad Chowk, Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex (Mhalunge), MITCON (Balewadi), R. K. Laxman Museum (Balewadi), Aundh, Sakal Nagar and Savitribai Phule Pune University stations.

(With inputs from PTI)