Park Street Station: Metro takes steps to prevent waterlogging

Kolkata: Owing to passenger inconvenience due to water accumulation inside the Park Street Metro Station on May 27, Metro Railway took precautionary measures to

prevent water seepage in case of heavy downpour during the monsoon.

On May 27, Metro services got disrupted when a severe cyclonic storm ‘Remal’ lashed Kolkata. There was waterlogging on the tracks between the Park Street and Esplanade Metro stations.To clear the water from the track bed, Metro authorities used pumps for several hours following which normal services resumed on that day.

During an inspection, engineers and officers of Metro Railway found a leakage in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) sewerage line near the top of the subway at Park Street station in the vicinity of the expansion joint.

Later, on June 10, a KMC team consisting of experts conducted a joint inspection with Metro Railway. The report revealed there was no fault in KMC’s drainage system. Cracks were spotted in the diaphragm (D) wall of the Metro from where water was leaking into the premises. The KMC report, however, stated that there is silt in the manhole and the Drainage department has deployed a desilting machine to remove silt and gully pit emptier for cleaning gully pits.

During the June 10 joint inspection, it was found that the century-old KMC’s brick sewer accumulated silt and developed holes in the manhole wall. Three holes were found in the brick-sewer wall from where water entered the station area on May 27. Metro authorities decided to plug these holes so that no such incident recurs in future. To stop the seepage from the tunnel wall, Metro Railway has started grouting at different locations at Park Street Metro Station. From May 28 to July 15, about 645 bags of cement have been injected inside the D Wall to plug the holes.