The construction of homes that were razed after the first two incidents of soil subsidence at the Bowbazar construction site of the East-West Metro project will begin in April next year, the agency building the corridor said on Wednesday.
“In total, 26 houses will be rebuilt from scratch. They are the ones that had been damaged beyond repair and had to be razed. The tender has been finalised,” said an official of the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the implementing agency of East-West Metro, which, once complete, will connect Salt Lake Sector V and Howrah Maidan.
The houses will be handed over to the now-displaced occupants by June 2026, he said.
“The reconstruction work will start adhering to the timeline committed by KMRCL i.e. April 2024. Further, the repairing work of partly damaged buildings has also been undertaken and is likely to be completed within a very short period of time,” the agency said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Of the 26 houses, 23 were hit by the subsidence on August 31, 2019, and three on May 11, 2022.
On October 14 this year, a third similar accident happened because of water seepage during the construction of a cross passage.
“No house was razed after the third accident,” said the KMRC official.
The contract to rebuild the 26 homes has been awarded to DMP Nirman Pvt Ptd, a Calcutta-based firm, said sources in the agency.
More than 200 families in Bowbazar — displaced by the accidents — are still living in rented accommodation, said Sanjoy Sen, secretary of the Mati O Manob Kalyan Samiti, a platform for the displaced residents.
The KMRC is paying the rent.
The corridor is now operational between Sector V and Sealdah.
The target for opening the stretch between Howrah Maidan and Esplanade is the end of 2023.
“We have written to the CRS (Commissioner of Railway Safety) for an inspection. But we are yet to receive a date,” said an official of the agency.
A CRS inspection is mandatory before any commercial run.
The entire corridor should be operational by June 2024, the KMRC has said.
For that, the 2.5km stretch between Esplanade and Sealdah, which includes Bowbazar, has to be completed.