Bowbazar: Metro Rly asked to test soil condition

kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway has been asked to test the soil condition in Bowbazar to decide the fate of the buildings that have developed major cracks, the city's mayor Firhad Hakim said on Friday.

The buildings cannot be razed suddenly without consulting experts and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has already appointed a committee of specialists from the Jadavpur University to examine the stability of those buildings in Durga Pithuri Lane, he said.

"Ours is a land composed of silt. We need to find the current situation in the earth and that is why we have asked the Metro Railway authorities to appoint earth experts to evaluate it," Hakim said.

"They should see how much water has seeped into, which could be dangerous for the metro construction as well," he added. It is not a good idea to rebuild the houses without proper soil testing, he said.

"We need reports from earth experts, because even if we rebuild the houses, they may not be intact for the next 50 years. These are old buildings, so even a small disturbance underneath causes damage to the structure," Hakim said.

At least 12 buildings in the congested central Kolkata locality have developed major cracks, following which 232 people were moved to different hotels.

Water entered the Howrah-bound under-construction tunnel of the East-West Metro from water pockets created due to the heavy rains. This resulted in the washing away of soil and sand, causing structural damage to the buildings, said a KMC engineer. Construction in the area was underway for the East-West Metro project, which will connect the twin cities of Howrah and Kolkata.

The main construction work was suspended for time being following the incident.

On Friday, during the meeting between Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and KMRC, Hakim informed the metro officials that the drainage system in the area has been damaged owing to the concrete mixed water and other construction waste.

"KMRC told us that they need some time to prepare the reports which would be handed over to the expert inspection team. I have suggested them to confess the lapses and sought apology.

For the purpose KMRC has been asked to set up a public relation team which will interact with the people in distress and inform them about the measures taken and follow up," he said.

Hakim further alleged that he has come to know from the MLA, Nayna Bandyopadhyay that KMRC employees are misbehaving with the local people which is not acceptable.