The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation faced protests on Sunday by some people who were affected by prior accidents at Bowbazar, where three incidents of subsidence occurred in as many years during tunneling work for the East West Metro project.
A camp was set up at Bowbazar on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's direction to help the affected people, who have been shifted out from their houses at Madan Dutta Lane after cracks developed on Friday during work in the underground tunnel.
The camp comprised representatives of the KMRC, Kolkata Municipal Corporation and police. KMRC general manager of administration A K Nandy and other officials of the agency went to the site to speak to the people.
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Several people, who said they were affected in the earlier accidents at the site, came to the camp and demanded their grievances be heard and addressed. They protesters alleged that they did not get full compensation for relocation after the previous mishaps.
"We want you to depute a responsible person who will hear our problems and provide solutions," one of the protesters told the KMRC officials. Nandy said the demands of the people would be conveyed to the top authorities of KMRC.
He added that at least 183 people had been shifted out from 12 buildings at Madan Dutta Lane, which is situated near Durga Pituri Lane -- where buildings had got damaged on two occasions earlier due to subsidence.
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On August 31, 2019, a tunnel boring machine had hit an aquifer, leading to a severe subsidence and damage to several buildings at Bowbazar. At least three houses were damaged again in May this year due to a subsidence that was caused by water seepage during work for joining the tunnels coming from the Sealdah and the Esplanade sides.
The East West metro corridor will connect Howrah Maidan and Sector V in Salt Lake. It is partially operational between Sector V and Sealdah. Out of the 16.6-km length, the underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km between Howrah and Phoolbagan, with a portion of the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river. The rest is an elevated corridor.
(With PTI inputs)
