35 buildings in Bowbazar marked as 'beyond repair'

Kolkata: Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) has identified 35 buildings in Bowbazar which are beyond repair. KMRCL, the executing agency of the East-West Metro project, has already informed the core committee headed by Chief Secretary Malay De about the development. A meeting was held at Nabanna on Friday regarding the same.

A senior official of the KMRCL said they would now request the house-owners and seek their permission to pull down these buildings. If they agree, the KMRCL will demolish the structures to make room for new ones. In such cases, the KMRCL will submit building plans to the KMC for its necessary approval. As per the new building rules, space on the side and back of the buildings will have to be kept vacant and the area of the new structures will be less than the space which the present buildings have.

Senior civic officials who visited the site said cracks have developed in many of the buildings, some of which are more than 100 years old and have not been repaired for the past 50 years or more. The cracks are so wide that the safety of the buildings cannot be ensured by grouting. Even the owners will not agree to stay in these premises. A senior KMC official pointed out that the average age of the buildings in the affected areas varies anything between 90 and 150 years.

It may be mentioned that the KMRCL has constituted a team headed by Nitin Som, emeritus professor of Jadavpur University's civil engineering department, for carrying out health study of the buildings in Bowbazar that have suffered heavy damages due to the tunnel boring work for the ongoing East-West Metro project. The team had started its work from September 10.

"We are now evaluating the degree of distress in each of these buildings. Detailed investigation is required as a good number of them have suffered significant damage. Many of them would surely require major rectification work to make them habitable. We are trying our best to first identify those buildings that do not need much repair work and rectify those so that residents can return to their homes," Professor Som said.

A total of approximately 74 buildings have suffered damages or developed cracks and the residents of all these houses have already been evacuated and shifted to various hotels by the KMRCL.

More than 600 residents in the area living at Durga Pituri Lane, Syakra Para Lane and Gour Dey Lane have been evacuated for safety reasons.