Kolkata, Dec. 7 -- A section of the roof on the ground floor of a three-storey house at the BB Ganguly Street-Madan Dutta Lane junction in Bowbazar collapsed on Sunday afternoon, injuring a 59-year-old resident, Pappu Singh, and reviving concerns over the impact of Metro operations in the area.
Police said the collapse occurred around 1:30 pm when Singh was entering the bathroom. Chunks from the roof fell on him, injuring his head, neck and waist. He was taken to Kolkata Medical College and Hospital and discharged after primary treatment. The old brick-and-mortar building houses about 15 families and stands above the Howrah Maidan-Salt Lake Sector V (Green Line) metro corridor.
Residents said vibrations from passing trains had increased in recent weeks, with some claiming they felt tremors daily and had notified Metro authorities nearly ten days ago, though another section maintained that the weakened state of the house could not be overlooked.
Local MLA Nayna Bandopadhyay and councillor Bishwarup Dey visited the spot. Dey said engineers from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation had been asked to assess the building and determine the cause of the collapse. Teams from Kolkata Police Disaster Management, along with engineers from Metro Railway and other officials, reached the site shortly after the incident. Metro Railway, in a statement, said its engineers had taken preventive steps to stop further deterioration.
"The reason will be analysed and consultants and engineers will examine. Further necessary steps will be taken accordingly," the statement said. A senior Metro official present at the site said the iron rods supporting the damaged portion were severely rusted, leading to the collapse. Repair work to secure the damaged portion has also started.
Bowbazar has faced repeated incidents of subsidence and building collapses since 2019, when a tunnel boring machine punctured a sand aquifer, leading to the evacuation of more than 700 residents.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.