Why Mumbai Metro 3's Acharya Atre Chowk Station Witnessed Waterlogging Following Heavy Rains
Ashwini Bhide has assured that there is "absolutely no safety issue as far as the underground metro is concerned."
The Acharya Atre Chowk Station on Mumbai Metro Line 3 got severely waterlogged after water was "back-charged" by a nearby storm water drain system amid "unprecedented" rainfall in the city, according to Ashwini Bhide, Managing Director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).
She highlighted that the city witnessed about 90 mm of rainfall in about one and a half hours' time on May 26 and this was followed by a high tide.
Addressing the "fear and apprehension" among the commuters, Bhide noted that the drainage system near one of the under-construction entry/exit gates was full, while the pit of that gate was filled with the back-charged water.
"Almost 11 lakh litres of water got accumulated in that pit in one-and-a-half hours. The pit could not sustain it, some soil erosion occurred and that water entered the station. (It had) Immediately reached concourse and platform level," she stated in a video message on May 27.
She added that MMRC had even installed a bund wall outside this entry/exit, however, "that was not designed for this kind of unprecedented event".
As a result, the bund wall was not able to sustain it and the water entered the station.
The senior MMRC official stated that the disaster control system was immediately kicked in and those present at the station were evacuated.
"All other SOPs were strictly followed. We immediately shut down the station's functioning. The metro line continued its operation from Aarey JVLR to Worli station -- one station before Acharya Atre Chowk station," she added.
Amid heavy rainfall, the "entire storm water drain system of Mumbai got overwhelmed and instead of discharging the water into the sea, the water started back charging," Bhide said.
ALSO READ
Weather News Today: IMD Issues Heavy Rainfall Warning For Coastal Maharashtra, Karnataka And Kerala
She noted that the corporation has commissioned about 22 km of the Mumbai Metro Line 3, having 16 stations. In operation for the past few months, this line recently started witnessing a ridership of 45,000 to 50,000 commuters on a daily basis.
The Acharya Atre Chowk Station was commissioned with two entry/exits. It has six entry/exits in total, while three of them are still under construction and likely to be completed in the next two to three months, Bhide said.
She further stated that about 40,000 people travelled via this line on May 26 and regular operations started on May 27, except for the Acharya Atre Chowk Station.
"We have immediately started the work of removing excess water that had accumulated at the station. The concourse and platform have dried up. We are also setting up a permanent protection wall, which can sustain similar kinds of events," she stated.
She has assured that there is "absolutely no safety issue as far as the underground metro is concerned."
"This was once-in-a-while kind of event, which we could not avoid because it happened suddenly," she added.
Her message comes after the operations between Acharya Atre Chowk and Worli were suspended on Monday due to severe waterlogging at the underground station.
On social media, people shared multiple videos showcasing how the station was waterlogged amid heavy rains.
On Wednesday morning, MMRC updated on X that it was working on "war footing" to get this station ready for regular operations.
Mumbai is expected to witness heavy rain on Wednesday as well, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast.
