Kolkata: Sleepless night at hotels for displaced residents

KOLKATA: Close to 130 residents who were shifted to different hotels in central Kolkata after the cave-in at Madan Dutta Lane on Friday spent the night worrying over their future, the status of their homes and how to go about their lives from hotel rooms for an indefinite period.
Several residents returned to the site early on Saturday morning to check the condition of their homes. Many of them were seen asking the engineers and the cops if there were any more cave-ins inside their homes. Many residents also sought permission from the authorities to retrieve their belongings from their homes.
"East-West Metro authorities have checked us into decent hotels and adequate rooms have been allotted but we were not at peace with ourselves the entire night," said Dinesh Sau, who has been shifted to Sonar Bangla on Grant Street with the family.
Many families have set up small temples in their hotel rooms. "Faith is the only thing we are depending on at this hour of crisis. I made sure we bring our deity so that we can offer prayers every day," said Purnima Sau, who is staying in Green Inn.
Some of the elderly residents said they faced problems with the food due to their medical conditions. "Both my wife and I are diabetic so we have to be very careful about what we eat and at what time we eat. The hotel food is not exactly what we are supposed to eat, so we have requested the hotel staff to prepare our food keeping in mind our health condition," said Bijoy Pramanik, who has been moved to Beeu Hotel with his wife.