Bowbazar houses evacuated as cracks appear amid metro construction

We are yet to find out how many houses have developed such cracks. Our expert team has reached the spot, a police officer said.The 16.6-km-long East-West corridor, connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, is under construction in the congested area, marked by several old and dilapidated structures.

At least five houses in central Kolkata's Bowbazar were evacuated late on Wednesday after major cracks appeared on the structures, likely to have been caused by metro railway construction in the area, police said.

A large team of Kolkata Police's disaster management team accompanied by senior police officers and metro rail officials visited the spot at Durga Pithuri Lane, they said.

Several houses in the area had collapsed in August 2019 when an aquifer broke during tunnel boring for the East-West Metro corridor, and water and silt gushed in, leading to severe ground subsidence.

The cracks were first spotted around 9.45 pm, following which residents of the houses rushed out fearing for their lives.

''We are evacuating the buildings. We are yet to find out how many houses have developed such cracks. As of now, there are five buildings on which cracks have appeared. Our expert team has reached the spot,'' a police officer said.

The 16.6-km-long East-West corridor, connecting the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah, is under construction in the congested area, marked by several old and dilapidated structures.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)