Eleven Bowbazar jewellery shops and the two buildings they are housed in were evacuated for East-West Metro tunnelling yesterday (24th June 2020). While the shops will remain closed for the next few days, 14 residents of one of the century-old structures have been shifted out.
The East-West Metro connects Salt Lake Sector-V with Howrah Maidan and will pass under the Hooghly. The last-leg of underground tunnelling between Bowbazar and Sealdah resumed last week on Friday and unstable structures of the area are being evacuated for the purpose.
Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), and ITD Cementation, issued temporary closure notices for 11 shops at 101 and 106 BB Ganguly Street. A family of three residing at 106 BB Ganguly Street was shifted to a central Kolkata hotel on Wednesday. Two other families living in the same house have moved in with their relatives.
The shops can reopen on Monday and the residents can also return on the same day. The 24 residents, who were evacuated on Monday, came back home on Wednesday. Dipankar Dutta, a businessman and owner of 7 Durga Pituri Lane, said: “The machine has burrowed past our house safely. There are some minor cracks, which ITD engineers said they would repair.” This is the second time, the Duttas of 7 Durga Pituri Lane and the Malakars of 94 BB Ganguly Street, were evacuated.