Mayor Kaladze orders investigation into flooding at newly renovated Avlabari metro station

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has instructed the city hall’s internal audit and monitoring service to investigate flooding at Avlabari Metro Station following heavy rainfall in the capital this week.

Speaking at a municipal government meeting on Wednesday, Kaladze said the station had undergone rehabilitation works two years ago and that authorities needed to determine why water had entered the station and whether the works had been carried out properly.

The mayor said footage from the station showed rainwater pouring inside “as if it were raining outdoors”, despite the metro station having previously undergone major renovation due to its deteriorated condition.

Kaladze said preliminary photographs suggested drainage pipes may have been improperly connected and added that the investigation would determine whether responsibility lay with the contractor, supervisors or inspectors involved in the project.

He warned that poor-quality work on municipal projects was “categorically unacceptable” and stressed that companies working on Tbilisi City Hall projects must ensure high construction standards and accountability.

The mayor added that recent heavy rainfall across Tbilisi had damaged residential buildings, roads, sports infrastructure, retaining walls and trees in several districts of the capital.

According to Kaladze, emergency and municipal services had been actively responding to incidents since the first day of the severe weather and assisting affected residents across the city.