E-W Metro work: IIT expert team reviews site of ground subsidence in Kokata's Bowbazar area

Experts from IIT-Roorkee -- roped in by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation KMRC for technical consultations in connection with an incident of soil subsidence during construction of East-West line -- on Monday reviewed the site where cracks had developed in homes owing to the cave-in.The team also assessed the preventive measures taken in the wake of the mishap, a KMRC official said.

Experts from IIT-Roorkee -- roped in by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC) for technical consultations in connection with an incident of soil subsidence during construction of East-West line -- on Monday reviewed the site where cracks had developed in homes owing to the cave-in.

The team also assessed the preventive measures taken in the wake of the mishap, a KMRC official said. The experts had on Sunday inspected the affected houses at Bowbazar in central Kolkata.

At least nine houses developed cracks in Bowbazar area recently during a tunneling work for the East-West Metro line. Three years ago, in August 2019, a similar incident had happened when a tunnel boring machine (TBM) hit an aquifer. Back then, houses had also collapsed due to soil subsidence.

''KMRC requested IIT-Roorkee for technical consultation in connection with the Bowbazar incident on the intervening night of May 11 and 12,'' the corporation’s general manager (administration) A K Nandy said in a statement.

The IIT expert team, comprising professor Narendra Samadhiya and assistant professor Akanksha Tyagi, held preliminary discussions with top officials of KMRC on short- and long-term measures to be undertaken for ensuring that such mishaps do not get repeated.

It will submit its report and technical inputs after further site visits, Nandy said.

According to N C Karmali, director (project) of KMRC, the houses suffered damage when work was underway to join two tunnels – one originating from Sealdah and the other from Esplanade.

The Sealdah side of the work was completed smoothly, but water seepage led to problems in the Esplanade tunnel, he explained.

The East West Metro corridor -- connecting Howrah Maidan and Salt Lake -- is currently partially operational – from Sector V to Phoolbagan station.

Of the 16.6-km length of East West Metro, underground corridor constitutes 10.8 km, spanning from Howrah to Phoolbagan, with the tunnel passing below the Hooghly river.

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