Road clear for Metro as KMC okays evacuation

Kolkata: In a relief to the Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation Ltd (KMRCL), the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Friday agreed to provide all possible assistance for evacuation of the inhabitants of around 25 odd dilapidated buildings on Brabourne Road for the project work of the East West Metro.

The KMRCL had sought the help of the KMC and the transport department to solve the deadlock regarding the buildings, as the TBM that is tunneling under the Hooghly river is expected to reach Kolkata in less than a fortnight.

The KMRCL will then have to do tunneling along the Brabourne Road for the proposed Mahakaran station thereby posing a risk to the dwellers of these buildings.

“It has been decided that the KMRCL, in association with the KMC will arrange for temporary relocation of the inhabitants of these buildings, while the TBM will work along Brabourne Road. The work will take not more than 15 days. If, in any case, any of the buildings get damaged due to the construction work for the project, the KMRCL is ready to provide compensation to the affected residents,” mayor Sovan Chatterjee said after holding a meeting with KMRCL, transport department officials, Kolkata police and construction firm Afcons.

Among the 25 buildings, nine have been marked as “very vulnerable” while the rest 16 are marked “vulnerable”.

The managing director of KMRCL, Satish Kumar assured that they would take all precautionary measures before starting work along Brabourne Road.

“The survey of the buildings to find out how many people live there and how many need to be relocated by us, has already started,” a senior KMRCL official said.

The Kolkata police also assured the making of necessary traffic diversions as work goes on under the Brabourne Road flyover. “It will take three days for work under the flyover to finish. During this short period, if needed, the Kolkata police is ready to stop vehicular movement on the flyover and make diversions to ensure flow of traffic,” a senior traffic department official said.

As the TBM reaches Kolkata in a few days, it will also face the hurdle of boring near two nationally protected monuments: Magen David and Beth El Synagogues, and also the Currency Building at Dalhousie in later stage. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has certain observations regarding construction adjacent to heritage monuments. “A cabinet note has already been prepared and central minister Babul Supriyo has himself taken up the matter. We are hopeful of the union government’s clearance as soon as heritage law can be tweaked for a public interest project,” a KMRCL official said.