Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday gave its permission to restart tunnel-boring work on the damaged portion of Bowbazar, where tunnelling had been suspended after houses collapsed and hundreds of families had to be shifted, between Esplanade and Sealdah stations in central Kolkata.
The court further pointed out that the entire work will be carried out under the supervision of Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT) Madras.
It might be mentioned that the division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee had in September 2019, ordered the suspension of tunnelling work till further orders after an aquifer burst in August 2019, leading to severe ground subsidence and collapse of buildings.
While the four-member technical committee of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), the implementing agency of East-West Metro, on November 15, had submitted a report on the feasibility of moving a tunnel-boring machine at Bowbazar, the decision has been taken in the wake of East-West Metro tunnelling disaster where houses were damaged and more than 600 families were shifted to hotels by KMRCL.
On September 3, a division bench of Calcutta High Court headed by T B Radhakrishnan ordered immediate stoppage of the ongoing tunnel boring work undertaken for the East-West Metro in Durga Pithuri Lane and Syakra Para Lane after a petition was filed by an NGO. The court had asked KMRCL authorities to submit a detailed report within two weeks.
"We have not yet received the court order. It will take at least one day and then we will start the construction work abiding the court order," said a senior official of KMRCL.