The water seepage at the East-West Metro construction site at Bowbazar was plugged around 7pm on Friday, officials said.

But the residents who had to be evacuated the night before will be in hotels and rented accommodations for now, said sources in the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the implementing agency of the East-West corridor.

“Initially, we had planned to keep the site under observation for 48 hours after the leakage stopped. But the safety of the residents is our top priority. Now, we plan to keep them at the alternate accommodations till the critical work on the egress shaft is complete. We will discuss the same in a meeting on Sunday or Monday and communicate with the displaced residents accordingly,” said a KMRC official.

He declined to comment on a possible date of return.

Following the water leak, 52 people had to leave their homes on Durga Pithuri Lane and BB Ganguly Street at short notice between Thursday night and early Friday.

The water seepage started around 10pm on Thursday while work to cut piles inside the egress shaft was underway. The piles were inserted to support the new cross passage that links the twin tunnels to the egress shaft, meant for emergency evacuation of passengers in the tunnel.

The engineers accessed the underground site from the east-bound (Salt Lake-bound) tunnel to build the cross passage.

“The passage is linked to the east-bound tunnel. But some piles have to be removed to link the passage with the west-bound (Howrah-bound tunnel). The water seepage happened while that work was on,” said a KMRC official.

“The leakage was arrested by grouting the spot with cement and chemicals. The leakage stopped around 7pm on Friday. The area is still under observation.”

The displaced residents said they were yet to receive any communication from the KMRC on the possible date of returning to their homes.

At a heated interaction with senior KMRC officials, including the managing director, Anuj Mittal, the residents voiced their frustrations.

“We are sick and tired of moving out of our homes,” said a resident.

A section of the residents were shifted out of their homes on August 26. They were supposed to come back on September 5 but were brought back on September 2 because KMRC officials had estimated that the critical part of the work was over. But the fresh leakage forced another round of shifting.

Thursday night’s seepage is the fourth such incident at the Bowbazar site since August 2019.