Metro work fiasco: House filled with cracks, ordeal recalled

"Will we ever be able to return to our homes?" asked an exhausted Sulakshana Adhya Mukherjee in a tone filled with frustration and uncertainty. Mukherjee's 150-year-old ancestral house at Bowbazar in central Kolkata has developed fresh cracks, following water seepage during the East-West Metro tunneling work, the third such incident in the area in three years. At least 10 houses developed cracks on the morning of October 14 in the area due to the tunneling work."There are cracks virtually everywhere; on the walls, window arches, staircase, floor and the roof. It has become very risky to live in this house now, but I cannot go anywhere else, abandoning this ancestral property," said Mukherjee, the single mother of a 14-year-old boy.The old house, where her relatives also stay, is situated close to Madan Dutta Lane, where buildings had got damaged on two occasions earlier, owing to the Metro work. Mukherjee, who is a teacher by profession, said in 2020, they were shifted to a hotel for three days by the Metro authorities."After coming back, I discovered that a portion of the roof had developed cracks. It was repaired and a fresh coat of paint was also applied, but the cracks have re-appeared and I wonder if we'll ever be able to stay in our homes," she asked. She also said that engineers working on the project visited her house on Saturday, and were assured of carrying out repair work. "It will take some time. They have made that clear," Mukherjee said. As many as 136 people were immediately shifted to nearby hotels on October 14 after the houses developed cracks, Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation MD C N Jha had said.