Kolkata Municipal Corporation turns lens on ‘zone of influence’

KOLKATA: A team of experts from Jadavpur University who inspected the damaged buildings on Durga Pithuri Lane for the third consecutive day on Wednesday felt the need to extend the scope of the survey to the ‘influence zone’ beyond the current area, where subsidence has taken place. It will help them identify vulnerable buildings on the periphery so that a future disaster can be averted.
The JU experts visited the affected buildings on Durga Pithuri Lane and B B Ganguly Street on Wednesday to ascertain the extent of damage suffered due to last Wednesday’s subsidence at the East-West Metro construction site. Later, they held a meeting with KMC buildings department where both the JU experts and civic engineers agreed that more investigations were needed to reach a consensus on reconstruction of buildings in the ‘influence zone’.
“By influence zone, we mean an extended area from the centre of the subsidence that might be examined closely before we give the nod for reconstruction of buildings for the affected families. We need to take into account the structural stability of buildings, which have suffered severe damage or structures, which have so far remained safe. But we can’t take chances,” said a KMC buildings department official.
A civic official pointed out that though JU experts were supposed to submit a preliminary report on the impact of the subsidence by Thursday, they needed more time to study the effect of the soil settlement before they could draft the final report. “The JU experts have asked for some more documents from KMRC related to the soil settlement and health of the buildings. Based on the documents, they will study in depth before drafting their final report on the subsidence,” said a KMC buildings department official.
An interim report from the JU team is necessary as KMC mayor Firhad Hakim will hold a meeting with the chief secretary and KMRC officials based on those findings. One of the JU team members reportedly told KMRC many of the 14 structures listed as affected might have to be razed. “The buildings are several decades old. Most of them, affected by the subsidence on May 11, will have to be demolished,” said an official.