The Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the implementing agency of East-West Metro, has set a month's target to pay compensation to those whose houses and business establishments in Bowbazar’s Madan Dutta Lane were damaged after last month’s tunnel disaster.
Officials of the agency said on Sunday that 52 applications for compensation had been found to be valid. “Half of the applicants have got the compensation. We have decided to pay the remaining 26 in the next four weeks, after a thorough scanning of the documents submitted by them,’’ a KMRC official said.
East-West Metro, once complete, will span 16.6km, between Sector V and Howrah Maidan.
As many as 136 people from at least 10 buildings in the narrow lane, which lies just above a tunnel that connects the two ducts of East-West Metro, had to be evacuated on October 14 following a cave-in.
Apart from families, a number of businessmen and goldsmiths had suffered a blow just ahead of Dhanteras, in what was the third incident of water seepage underground and subsidence in Bowbazar resulting from KMRC work since 2019..
Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said the process of shortlisting applicants for compensation was on. “Each application is being scanned at various stages to ascertain whether the claim is genuine or not,’’ said an official.
“I had submitted my application for compensation two weeks ago with all relevant documents. The KMRC is yet to contact me,’’ said a resident of Madan Dutta Lane, who has been staying with his wife at a city hotel since the disaster. “The officials had initially said they would clear all applications within a fortnight.’’
The KMRC has said it will pay Rs 5 lakh each to house owners who are unable to return home within 30 days of evacuation. Affected shop-owners whose establishments measure up to 100sq ft are entitled to a compensation of Rs 1.5 lakh.
The owners of damaged shops measuring above 100sq ft are being paid Rs 5 lakh each.
“On Monday, we will transfer the compensation amounts to eight businessmen and one family to their bank accounts,’’ said a KMRC official.
Affected house owners and businessman were asked to submit an application mentioning details of their properties, addresses and identity documents such as PAN and Aadhaar cards. The businessmen were asked to additionally provide a copy of their trade licence.
“The addresses and all documents are verified. The genuine applications are then forwarded to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for the next round of verification,’’ said an officer of Muchipara police station.
KMRC officials said they had been receiving letters from house owners saying certain applicants were not their tenants or that they had moved out. “That has necessitated a third round of check. It’s government money and the entire process of selecting claimants and paying compensation is audited. We can’t go wrong with our scrutiny,’’ a KMRC official said.