Kolkata: Residents of Bowbazar area, where an aquifer brust led to a huge ground settlement during tunneling work for the East West Metro corridor, complained of fresh hairline cracks appearing on their houses, even as the KMRC on Friday sought to allay fears, saying those will not cause any damage.
A few residents of the area in central Kolkata alleged that hairline cracks appeared on their houses after the tunnel boring work resumed earlier this week.
"We assure that these will not cause any permanent damage to the buildings as all precautions have been taken for the tunnel boring work," Kolkata Metro Railway Corporation (KMRC) general manager, administration, A K Nandy told.
He said the KMRC will repair the cracks and any other damage caused owing to the tunnelling work.
"These are normal hairline cracks, these may happen sometimes. Our engineers are keeping a watch on everything. We will repair everything after the residents come back to their houses," he said, adding that there is nothing to fear.
Residents of several dilapidated buildings have been temporarily shifted to hotels and guest houses as precautionary measure for the tunnelling work.
The tunneling work up to Sealdah will require around five months, according to the head of a committee of experts appointed by the KMRC, the executing agency for the East West Metro corridor project.
With a key machine damaged beyond repair in an accident in August, underground tunnelling work for the East West Metro corridor is likely to take 10 more months, according to the committee.
Safety of the people living in dilapidated buildings, many of which were built over 120 years ago, in one part of the route is a cause for concern, Leonard John Endicott, a geotechnical expert and head of the committee said last week.
The tunnelling work was put on hold after one of the two TBMs hit an aquifer on August 31 leading to severe ground subsidence and collapse of buildings.