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Nagpur Metro Leaks Trigger Waterlogging Hazards Across the City

Nagpur Metro Leaks Trigger Waterlogging Hazards Across the City
Nagpur Metro Leaks Trigger Waterlogging Hazards Across the City

Nagpur in Vidarbha region has seen repeated incidents of water seeping from its new metro structures over the past five years. Residents report that rainwater leaks from the elevated viaducts and stations, leading to puddles, potholes, and slippery roads underneath. Unlike natural flooding, these waterlogging hazards arise even during moderate rain, as water pours down from Metro bridges and roofs.


Local commuters describe jarring rides on the underpasses, what should be smooth drives become a stretch dreaded for bumps and splashes, and accuse authorities of ignoring the problem.


The situation has raised questions about design flaws and poor drainage in the Metro project, as road surfaces erode under the constant drips from above.


Crumbling Roads Under Metro Tracks


Persistent leaks along the Metro viaduct have visibly damaged city roads in Nagpur. Municipal engineers say that water trickles down from joints and pillars of the Metro’s concrete tracks, weakening the asphalt below. “The Metro structure should have been watertight. Instead, we are paying the price for its engineering lapses,” said an NMC official, noting that potholes often reopen at the same spots every monsoon.


One commuter on Central Avenue Road voiced the frustration common among drivers that every heavy rain churns up the pavement as road repair work is undone by fresh seepage.

Civic crews have repeatedly patched potholes under the viaduct, but the relief is short-lived, as one engineer remarked, repairing the damage is like pouring money into a leaking bucket. City records show NMC formally asked the Metro agency to seal leaking joints and improve drainage at several elevated stretches, but Metro officials insist the problems come only with sudden heavy rain.


A senior Metro official said recent inspections had identified 15 leak points that were subsequently fixed, and that the agency was monitoring the site to ensure the issue does not recur.


Meanwhile, road-owning agencies have been slow to respond. In 2025, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation reported that while it filled over 2,100 potholes in monsoon months, other bodies, including the MahaMetro, had largely ignored complaints on highway and metro-corridor stretches.


The NMC noted that roads under the Metro lines remained cratered and waterlogged, and repairs by other agencies were lacking.


Residents say the situation on the ground reflects this inaction. Even on moderate rain days, drivers under the Metro flyovers say rainwater pours from the elevated deck seams directly onto the roadway, creating slick patches and ankle-deep puddles.


In a July 2025 observation, thick streams of water were seen gushing down from poorly sealed joints on the Sitabuldi and Wardha Road flyovers, Metro-linked structures, drenching vehicles and forcing cars to slow sharply to avoid splashes.


Motorcyclists faced particular danger from the cascading water, which one report likened to water falling almost like a waterfall in certain spots.


The Metro stations themselves have also seen water infiltration during rain, causing hazards for passengers. In early July 2025, heavy showers triggered a leak through the roof of the Sitabuldi Metro station. Staff quickly cordoned off two escalators that were under the leaking section as a safety precaution.


Commuters heading to the underground platforms found staircases and ramps drenched, and authorities had to close the escalators temporarily after on-site staff discovered water pouring onto the moving steps. Metro officials insisted the closures were purely precautionary, the escalators were inspected and restored later that day once crews mopped up the water and verified safety.


The problem was not limited to one station. Just a few days earlier, a city-wide downpour had seeped into multiple stations on the network.


Water entered lift shafts and escalator pits at four stations, Institution of Engineers, Indora, Dharampeth College, and Prajapati Nagar, forcing those lifts and escalators offline until the water could be pumped out.

Officials described the disruption as a consequence of the heavy overnight rain. While trains ran normally, the stations’ built-in drainage failed to keep the shafts dry. “Rainwater entered some of the lift shafts and escalator pits,” one operations officer said, adding that maintenance teams were working from early morning hours to clear the water and restore services as a priority.

The Metro agency told the press that crews would continue enhanced monitoring and preventive checks at all stations as the monsoon progressed.


Driver Complaints and Agency Coordination


Local drivers and planners warn that unless agencies work together on Metro drainage, the hazards will continue indefinitely.


Transport experts say the leaks expose a lack of coordination and accountability in public works. Despite the Metro’s goal of modernising transit in Nagpur, the basic issue of water management beneath the structures remains unresolved.


Residents have launched complaints and petitions, noting that water from the Metro’s built-in drains and pipe outlets often has nowhere to go but onto the street.

In one city hearing, MPs and officials heard 1,500 cases of waterlogging and pipe-burst issues, many blaming incomplete infrastructure projects and uneven digging. Union minister Nitin Gadkari, chairing a rain-related review, admonished local authorities for failing to take timely action ahead of the monsoon.


He pointed out that during construction and renovation works, proper pre-monsoon measures had been neglected, a criticism that applies equally to the Metro corridors.


Amid public pressure, civic engineers have demanded action from MahaMetro. The NMC has asked for a standard operating procedure to check underground water and sewer lines before any heavy construction so that leaks can be avoided.


Metro officials have largely maintained that major structural repairs were finished and that remaining leaks were few, but city agencies counter that water still pools under the elevated tracks after even moderate showers. “We repair the road again and again, but the leaks keep coming,” said one traffic engineer, a problem he warned would persist, rain or no rain, unless corrected. So far, drivers and pedestrians continue to pick their way through the Metro’s shadow, as untreated leaks turn many underpasses into small ponds after every rain.


Nagpur’s Metro may promise rapid transit for the city, but at street level, its unfinished drainage works are creating a recurring hazard. Even on clear days, the damp patches and stress fractures in the road remind commuters of past leaks.

As a resident walking beneath an oozing viaduct quipped, water gushing from the concrete slabs above almost feels like a waterfall, a hazard turned mundane by its frequency.

With each monsoon, new stretches around Sitabuldi, CA Road, and Wardha Road double-decker show familiar signs of pooling and potholes. Unless city and Metro authorities take concerted action, Nagpur may find that the troubles flowing down from its most modern infrastructure remain another stormwater story, one that keeps drivers wary of what drips from above, long after the last train has passed.

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