Tuesday, 07 January 2025
Tuesday, 07 January 2025
An elderly Kolkata couple is facing a strange, sticky problem. A pillar of their house has been dripping oil. They have no clue from where and how the oil is coming.
Residents for almost 50 years of ward no 29 of Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality, Ratan Kumar Sarkar (63) and Shampa Sarkar (54), own a three storey house in Fartabad in Garia.
For the past two years, the pillar on the left of the house has been spilling oil. It started with covering a small portion at the bottom of the pillar.
Now, the oil spillage has spread to the sunshade, the asbestos ceiling, and the frontal facade of the house.
The house is located near the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and the Shahid Khudiram Metro station.
“There was no drilling in the property. I got it painted two years ago, and after applying primer, oil started to leak,” Shampa Sarkar told The Telegraph Online.
The house was painted nevertheless, and the blob of oil missed the attention of the couple.
After approximately three months, Shampa noticed the oil spreading and covering the walls; it alarmed the couple.
They got their house cleaned again recently to remove the oil stains from the walls. But the leakage continues.
Today, the floors are slippery and sticky, there’s constant drip, and the home smells of oil.
A delegate team from the Rajpur-Sonarpur Municipality visited the house. “They could not shed any light,” said Shampa.
The municipality has not collected any samples, she said.
Ratan, a retired employee of ONGC, got in touch with his former employer, who could not identify the type of oil.
The three storey building has 12 residents. “We are worried about the safety,” said Shampa.
They have informed the Narendrapur police station about the phenomenon.
A team from Jadavpur University’s Chemical Engineering department will be visiting the Sarkars’ house on January 7 to collect samples.
