E-W Metro work :Residents move from homes to hotels

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMRCL) has started evacuating residents of SN Banerjee Road from Tuesday to facilitate construction for twin tunnels under East-West Metro project. Eighty-six buildings fall between the 800-metre stretch between the Esplanade crossing and Subodh Mullick Square (Wellington Square) and residents of all these buildings will be relocated temporarily in phases for undertaking tunnel boring work.

KMRCL has put up notices on the buildings to inform the residents to temporarily evacuate their homes. A number of shops and business establishments may also have to be closed for a few days with the west bound tunnel being dug.

A majority of these buildings are old and dilapidated. So, steps are being taken to strengthen these houses to prevent any untoward incident as there will be heavy vibration during the tunnel digging process.

Steel props, tilt meters, settlement markers and other monitoring equipment are being used in the exercise. The props are meant to support the structures from the inside as well as the outside. "The strengthening work will continue side by side as tunnel boring machine (TBM) Chandi will be digging the tunnel," a senior KMRCL official said.

Arrangements have been made for lodging the evacuated residents at nearby private hotels. The residents can return to their respective houses once the tunnel-boring machines have passed under their residences.

The Anadi Cabin, known for its lip smacking Moglai Paratha, will be closed for four days sometime by the end of this week. Regal Cinema and the Shalimar Hotel will also be closed for a few days when tunnel-boring machines will cut underneath the buildings.

"The last lap of the tunneling from Esplanade to Sealdah will require around 14 months to complete," the official said.

A similar exercise of evacuating residents and strengthening buildings had taken place when the tunnels were built along Brabourne Road as part of the project.