KOLKATA: Thirty-six Bowbazar residents were evacuated after midnight on Thursday as cracks that had surfaced the previous day on their house at 5/2 Gour De Lane started widening.
Gour De Lane is within the zone, where buildings fell after one of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) digging the East-West Metro tunnel hit an aquifer last year, leading to large-scale subsidence. Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), implementing agency of the project, however, ruled out a repeat of the August 31 disaster, considering the host of precautionary measures they have taken for the second phase of tunnelling.
Residents panicked nonetheless as buildings along the narrow bylane off Bowbazar developed cracks in the last 36 hours. Crack meter readings on the terrace of 5/2 Gour De Lane revealed that fissures had increased almost four times — from 4.5mm on Wednesday to 16mm on Thursday.
Tiloki Kesari, one of the owners, took TOI on a round of the well-maintained three-storey structure that had passed the mandatory building condition survey (BCS) undertaken to assess stability of structures ahead of the tunnelling. Unable to sleep the night at the hotel where they have been put up due to the emergency evacuation, he had come to check the extent of damage in the morning. “It took 40 minutes to get my immobile mother down the narrow staircase,” he said.
Asked why this building that fell on the TBM’s influence zone of 25m wasn’t evacuated before the tunnelling, an official said, “All the parameters suggested that it was a healthy structure.” Kesari, an electrical goods trader at Tiretta Bazar, said, “Yes, we have maintained the property that my grandfather had bought 125 years ago. Suddenly, it seems to be falling apart.”
He and his family were evacuated when Chundee, the TBM that was digging the west-bound tunnel, hit the aquifer below the nearby Durga Pithuri Lane on August 31. The machine is now lying defunct 14m below the ground. Its twin, Urvi, resumed tunnelling on February 18 on Calcutta high court’s orders.
“In August, some cracks had appeared on the walls of our building. But that was nothing compared to these,” Kesari said. KMRC and ITD ITD-Cementation, contracted to build the last leg of East-West Metro, are taking a several measures to strengthen the Kesari residence. The entire building has been propped up with iron beams. Grout mixtures (cement, sand and water) are being injected. “The residents shouldn’t panic. If they are feeling insecure, we are ready to shift them to hotels,” a KMRC spokesperson said.
Debashish Pradhan, 33, a resident of 4C Gour De Lane, said, “And what happens after we return from the hotel? The tunnelling work should be stopped immediately.”
Gour De Lane is within the zone, where buildings fell after one of the tunnel boring machines (TBMs) digging the East-West Metro tunnel hit an aquifer last year, leading to large-scale subsidence. Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), implementing agency of the project, however, ruled out a repeat of the August 31 disaster, considering the host of precautionary measures they have taken for the second phase of tunnelling.
Residents panicked nonetheless as buildings along the narrow bylane off Bowbazar developed cracks in the last 36 hours. Crack meter readings on the terrace of 5/2 Gour De Lane revealed that fissures had increased almost four times — from 4.5mm on Wednesday to 16mm on Thursday.
Tiloki Kesari, one of the owners, took TOI on a round of the well-maintained three-storey structure that had passed the mandatory building condition survey (BCS) undertaken to assess stability of structures ahead of the tunnelling. Unable to sleep the night at the hotel where they have been put up due to the emergency evacuation, he had come to check the extent of damage in the morning. “It took 40 minutes to get my immobile mother down the narrow staircase,” he said.
Asked why this building that fell on the TBM’s influence zone of 25m wasn’t evacuated before the tunnelling, an official said, “All the parameters suggested that it was a healthy structure.” Kesari, an electrical goods trader at Tiretta Bazar, said, “Yes, we have maintained the property that my grandfather had bought 125 years ago. Suddenly, it seems to be falling apart.”
He and his family were evacuated when Chundee, the TBM that was digging the west-bound tunnel, hit the aquifer below the nearby Durga Pithuri Lane on August 31. The machine is now lying defunct 14m below the ground. Its twin, Urvi, resumed tunnelling on February 18 on Calcutta high court’s orders.
“In August, some cracks had appeared on the walls of our building. But that was nothing compared to these,” Kesari said. KMRC and ITD ITD-Cementation, contracted to build the last leg of East-West Metro, are taking a several measures to strengthen the Kesari residence. The entire building has been propped up with iron beams. Grout mixtures (cement, sand and water) are being injected. “The residents shouldn’t panic. If they are feeling insecure, we are ready to shift them to hotels,” a KMRC spokesperson said.
Debashish Pradhan, 33, a resident of 4C Gour De Lane, said, “And what happens after we return from the hotel? The tunnelling work should be stopped immediately.”
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