KMRC puts construction of corridor on hold, informs High Court

The Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) notified the Calcutta High Court that the construction it had undertaken on the East-West Metro corridor had been stopped due to the incident that took place where numerous houses in the central parts of the city were damaged during tunnel-boring work. As reported, about five houses had collapsed because of ground settlement from seepage after a water table had been hit by a tunnel boring machine. It is expected that work will commence again after approval from the court. Additionally, several buildings in the Bowbazar locality are now showing cracks and have left a large number of people without homes.The court, hearing a public interest litigation, sought termination of underground drilling in crowded spaces and asked to be brought up to date of all developments in relation to ground settlement and damage done to buildings. It is expected that the state government along with the city civic authorities handle the situation effectively and make sure that affected citizens are looked after.