Five families in Kolkata’s Bowbazar area received keys to newly rebuilt homes on Thursday, more than seven years after soil subsidence and water seepage linked to the East-West Metro construction damaged their houses beyond repair.
The homes are being rebuilt by the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, the executing agency for the East-West Metro project. The latest handover took place at a time when several affected families are still waiting to return to properties damaged during the subsidence incidents that began in August 2019.
Twenty-four houses affected during the first subsidence were so severely damaged that they had to be demolished and reconstructed. Two homes had been handed over just over a month ago. An official of DMP Nirman, the agency contracted by KMRC, said the remaining homes would be handed over by March 31, 2027.
The handover brought relief to residents who had spent years moving between temporary arrangements. Dipak Gupta, whose seven-member family initially stayed in a hotel before shifting to a flat on Canal Street, said the displacement had affected his children’s education and changed his life. He is scheduled to move into a new G+3 building at Durga Pithuri Lane, although his family will take some time to return.
Swapan Boral, 73, received the keys to his four-storey house after, he said, changing addresses six times in eight years. His family had lived at the property for more than three decades before the damage forced them out. “Today, I am finally standing in front of my own address,” Boral said.
The rebuilding programme has faced delays. Construction was expected to begin in April 2024, while a ground-breaking ceremony was held in February 2025. KMRC had earlier indicated that it wanted to hand over the keys by March 2026, but construction at the epicentre of the 2019 disaster did not begin until 2026.
A KMRC engineer attributed the delay to the time needed to close the Metro shafts and to interruptions caused by continuous rain. An official of the construction agency said the rebuilding required specialised ground-stabilisation work. Homes located above the tunnel required excavation and a four-metre-thick geotextile cushion, while deeper excavation and piling were carried out for structures outside the tunnel zone.
Sajal Ghosh, BJP MLA from Baranagar, Bengal commerce and industries minister Tapas Roy and former councillor Biswarup Dey handed over the keys. Dey said seven new homes had now been handed over and that the remaining 17 would be completed within the next year. The figures refer to the 24 homes identified for demolition and reconstruction after the first subsidence.
Roy blamed the previous government’s alleged change to the Metro alignment for the subsidence, while the supplied report does not provide an independent technical finding on that allegation. Some owners also raised concerns about communication during the rebuilding process. KMRC-linked officials said the remaining handovers would continue in phases, with the next stated deadline set for March 31, 2027.
