Calcutta HC gives nod for resumption of East-West Metro work

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday allowed the resumption of tunnel-boring work for the city's East-West Metro corridor, which had come to a halt after an aquifer burst in August last year leading to severe ground subsidence and collapse of buildings.

Accepting a report by IIT-Madras, the court directed the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), the executing agency for the project, to restart work between Esplanade and Sealdah stations in Bowbazar area of central Kolkata, in consultation with the institute.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice TBN Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee had in September ordered the suspension of tunnelling work till further orders.

Three months later, the KMRC, in view of a report prepared by its expert committee, moved the court seeking its permission to resume work.

On a prayer by an NGO to get the expert committee report vetted by an independent agency, the KMRC then requested IIT-Madras to review its findings.

The institute, in its report, stated that tunneling work could be resumed.

Work on the project had come to a halt after a machine boring a tunnel hit an aquifer in Bowbazar on August 31 last year, triggering large-scale subsidence. Many buildings developed cracks and hundreds of people had to be relocated.

However, truncated services between Sector V in Salt Lake to Yuva Bharati Krirangan stadium are scheduled to commence on February 13.