A blocked drain pipe in the air-conditioning system of a Pune Metro coach caused water leakage inside the train on Thursday evening, Maha Metro officials have confirmed, clarifying that the incident had no connection to Friday's heavy rainfall despite widespread claims on social media to the contrary.
The leakage occurred around 6.40 pm after the train departed from Ramwadi towards Vanaz. The train was stopped at the next station upon detection of the seepage, cleaned by maintenance staff, and then allowed to continue its journey.
A video of the water leakage circulated widely on social media on Saturday, with many users attributing the seepage to Friday afternoon's heavy rain. Maha Metro's public relations head Chandrashekhar Tambhavekar directly refuted this. "The videos in circulation with the claim that there was seepage in the Metro coach during Friday's rain is incorrect," he said, adding that a directive had been issued to inspect the AC functioning in the affected rake and conduct checks across other rakes in the fleet.
The incident drew criticism from regular commuters, who called for more consistent maintenance of passenger-facing systems. Vishal Shinde, a frequent traveller on the Ramwadi-Vanaz route, noted that the leakage occurred during peak rush hour when the coach was packed. "The passenger services should be world class," he said.
Pune Metro currently records an average daily footfall of around two lakh commuters. Beyond maintenance concerns, riders have also flagged poor internet connectivity on underground stretches and the need for improved last-mile connectivity as ongoing issues.
In a separate development, Uber has launched Metro ticketing on its app for Pune commuters, allowing passengers to purchase tickets without standing in queues. Pune becomes the fifth city after Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai to offer this feature on the platform.
