East-West Metro work: Fresh cracks spotted in buildings, claim locals

(Image: Metro Railway Kolkata, via Twitter)

Fresh cracks have appeared in some buildings following the resumption of construction work for the East-West Metro corridor at the city's Bowbazar area, where a tunnel-boring machine had hit an aquifer last year causing severe ground subsidence.

Residents claimed their houses developed cracks after work recommenced in the area last month. Some also complained that the cracks have been widening with each passing day.

One of the residents in Bowbazar's Gaur De Lane said engineers of the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) have visited the affected buildings and took stock of the situation.

Another resident, who has been shifted to a hotel in view of the construction work, said that the cracks that he noticed on his building on March 11 had widened when he revisited his home on March 12.

KMRC officials, however, were not available for comment despite repeated calls.

Tunnelling work resumed in the area during the last week of February, following an order of the Calcutta High Court, after remaining suspended for nearly six months.

Work was put on hold in September last year, after one of the two tunnel-boring machines hit a water table, leading to the collapse of buildings and ground subsidence.

The court, accepting a report by IIT-Madras, had allowed the KMRC to restart operations in Bowbazar, in consultation with the institute.

On February 13, the 4.88-km-long first phase of the East-West Metro, connecting the information technology hub of Sector V in Salt Lake to the Yuvabharati Krirangan (multipurpose stadium), was opened to the public.

Inaugurating the service, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said the entire 16.5-km stretch of the corridor -- from Sector V to Howrah Maidan -- was likely to be ready in two years.

The East-West Metro corridor was earlier scheduled to be completed by June 2021.