A section of residents of Bowbazar, displaced since the first cave-in caused by the East-West Metro construction in August 2019, staged a road blockade to protest the delay in the construction of new homes for them.

The residents, under the banner of Bowbazar Mati-O-Manab Kalyan Society, blocked the busy BB Ganguly Street near its intersection with Shyakrapara Lane and Durga Pithuri Lane, where most of the displaced residents used to live.

A long snarl of traffic because of the blockade, left both Sealdah-bound and Lalbazar-bound vehicles stranded.

A police team persuaded the protesters to lift the blockade in less than 30 minutes. But the incident brought to the fore the pent-up frustration in the residents, who have been forced to live in rented accommodations for five years.

The protesters said the police assured them of setting up a meeting with Metro officials very soon.

“The main problem is the lack of clear communication on the part of the Metro officials. Last time, we were promised that the construction of the first lot of new homes would begin in April 2024. We are completely in the dark,” said Sanjoy Sen, one of the displaced residents and the secretary of the Bowbazar Mati-O-Manab Kalyan Society.

Bishwarup Dey, the local councillor, said the protesters’ anger was justified. “After the subsidence in 2019, the displaced residents were promised that they would return to new homes in three years. These people just want to know the status report from the Metro authorities.”

Twenty-three houses were damaged beyond repair — many of them had collapsed — in the 2019 subsidence.

The same area has seen three accidents, causing large-scale subsidence and collapse of and cracks in many buildings, since August 31, 2019.

The tender for the construction of 26 new houses — including the replacement of three houses damaged in the May 2022 subsidence — was floated in October 2022.

In February, the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation — the implementing agency of the East-West Metro or Green Line— did a “bhoomi puja” at the subsidence site to mark the beginning of the construction of the first set of houses that collapsed in 2019.

The new homes would come up in a space with Bowbazar Street on the north and Hridaram Banerjee Lane on the south, officials had said.

On Saturday, a KMRC official said: “Ownership certificates from the residents are essential for building new homes. A couple of residents are yet to give the certificates. The contracts for the construction of the houses and soil testing have already been awarded. We are hopeful of being able to start the construction from December.”