After Mumbai Metro station flooding, Aaditya seeks Turkish firm's removal from tunnel work

Mumbai, May 27 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said a Turkish company was involved in the Metro tunnelling work in Mumbai and demanded that services of the firm be discontinued after heavy rains inundated an underground station.

Talking to reporters here, the former state minister demanded that compensation be paid to owners of commercial establishments and residences in Mumbai and Pune who suffered losses due to heavy rains on Monday as it reflected the Mahayuti government's "mismanagement" and lack of preparedness.

He said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is without elected representatives since March 2022, is being run by the Chief Minister's Office and the Urban Development Department headed by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.

Slamming the BJP-led Mahayuti government, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA from Worli said the BMC never appeared to be prepared for monsoon.

Operations on the Metro Line 3 between Acharya Atre Chowk and Worli were suspended on Monday after the first monsoon showers in Mumbai inundated an underground station. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) was forced to suspend the operations after flooding was reported at the underground Acharya Atre Chowk station.

The MMRC, in a statement, later said due to the sudden and intense rainfall (on Monday), water seepage was reported at the under-construction entry/exit structure of Acharya Atre Chowk station. The incident occurred when the RCC (reinforced cement concrete) water-retaining wall constructed at entry/exit collapsed due to a sudden ingress of water from an adjoining utility.

The inundation inside the metro station has raised concerns about construction quality and monsoon preparedness of the underground metro station on the 33-km long Colaba-BKC-Aarey JVLR underground corridor.

"The company which was doing the tunnelling work is Dogus Soma, a Turkish entity. Why did you not remove this company the way you removed (ground handling firm from Turkey) Celebi. Did the company do this purposely to pose a danger to India and Mumbai? Is it not a security threat that the tunnelling work was awarded to Dogus Soma? Dogus Soma should be removed (from work)," Thackeray demanded.

Turkey is facing severe backlash in the country for supporting Pakistan during 'Operation Sindoor', India's military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has revoked the security clearance for Celebi and its associated companies in the interest of national security.

Celebi, a Turkish firm, provided handling of passengers and cargo services at nine airports -- Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Kochi, Kannur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chennai. PTI PR RSY