Two houses had collapsed in the Bowbazar area of Kolkata in West Bengal on August 31, 2019. The incident had occurred during the underground tunnel work by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) for East-West Metro corridor. Many buildings near the construction sites were also vacated in view of the threats and people were forced to live like refugees.
After two years, the houses located in Durga Pituri Lane in the congested Bowbazar area still have cracks on their walls and corners of the roof after tunneling work was completed in May.
The tunneling work was resumed one year after the incident and it has been completed now. The work was started following the recommendation of the expert committee. KMRCL officials said that the last lap of tunneling proved the most challenging as workers had to work in congested neighborhoods surrounded by crumbling buildings. East-West Metro project worth Rs 8,576-crore links the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah through a tunnel.
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) Urvi completed the remaining work of the Howrah-bound tunnel. TBM Chandi had stalled after the incident in 2019 and was extricated in 2020. Now, KMRCL has started to remove the TBMs from the Bowbazar area. Big machines have been brought by the engineers to take out the TBMs.
The locals apprehend disasters that may unfold during the removal of TBMs. The cracks in various houses in the Bowbazar area including Durga Pituri Lane and Sakra Para Lane are gradually widening.
Jayant Sheel, a resident of Bowbazar said, “I have been suffering from homelessness for the last two years. I don’t know when Bowbazar will be normal again.”
KMRCL Chief Engineer, Civil, Bishwanath Dewanji said, “All the necessary steps have been taken to remove TBMs. It will take at least a few more months to do so.”
On August 31, 2019 a portion of a building collapsed during the underground metro tunneling work. Following the incident around 254 residents of the area were shifted to different hotels by the Kolkata Metro Rail authorities and the work was suspended.
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