They had left their homes and returned months after that expecting to return to their uneventful lives. It turned out to be day-dream after Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) served a notice to evacuate their houses once more. Spending days in fear, if history is repeated, some of the residents of Gour Dey Lane in Bow Bazar will be evacuated for the second time in six months.
The stretch, which was the epicentre of cave-ins in the disaster that shook several structures standing tall for centuries, wears a deserted look once more. As the tunnel boring machine, Urvi, is heading towards the stretch, the residents of the buildings marked ‘critical’ in the list of KMRCL engineers, are being evacuated.
Last Sunday, at least ten residents of Gour Dey Lane had to abandon their houses, and shift to different city hotels. While three more families, from the area, are expected to evacuate their houses today. On the other hand, some of the residents of Chaitan Sen Lane are supposed to return home today. The news of the second TBM entering the stretch for tunnelling has triggered fear amongst the residents.
Keeping their fingers crossed, the residents of Gour Dey Lane left their homes only to return in safe and intact structures that had sheltered them for centuries. “What we have seen last time still haunts us. Even after a passage of six months, our life is far from being normal. We are hoping things get better soon,” rued a resident of Gour Dey Lane.
According to sources in KMRCL, the TBM Urvi has undertaken tunnelling work in a stretch of around 100 metres in roughly two weeks. The TBM, at present, is said to be burrowing the ground under Chaitan Sen Lane before heading towards Gour Dey Lane. The TBM, from its present location to Sealdah, covering around one kilometre, is expected to be completed in about five months.
It will then take a U-turn to reach the first TBM Chandi in about three months. The TBM Urvi, after that, is expected to take around four months to complete the remaining stretch before reaching the first TBM. The damaged TBM, Chandi, will be dismantled and taken away from the underground shaft.