A total of 19 families that were evacuated from their houses in Bowbazar and shifted to various hotels in the city, were given a compensation package worth rupees five lakhs by Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL) today. For the distribution of the compensation, KMRCL has been collecting bank account details of the evacuees. The proof of their residence is being certified by the local councillor. KMRCL, the implementing agency of Kolkata Metro Railway for East-West Corridor, is learnt to have collected the bank account details of around 60 such families, so far.

“The compensation cheques were given to the families, who had provided the bank account details first. The process of collecting the information of evacuees’ bank account details is still going on. A building-wise data is also being collected including head of each family. Around 63 head counts of each family have been listed, so far,” said a KMRCL official. The 19 families were handed over with the compensation amount in cheque. To expedite the process, KMRCL has decided that the next group of affected families, who were evacuated from their houses in Bowbazar due to subsidence owing to tunnelling work, will be given the compensation amount through RTGS from Monday onwards.

The recipients of the compensation, however, complained to the KMRCL authorities that their vital documents and other valuables were still in their homes. “What will I do with the cheque when my property papers and other vital documents are still in my house? My business has been lost, I do not know how my family will survive in such circumstances?” rued one of the protesting evacuees. For addressing such grievances, KMRCL has formed a ‘human interface’ team comprising of its own employees. The human interface team is further divided into three teams responsible for collecting the banking data and take care of the needs of the evacuees staying at different city hotels.

The teams are visiting the evacuees, whose number crossed 600 today, and trying to resolve their issues. Inside the tunnel, the construction of the coffer dam and walls is being carried on war footing, according to an engineer of KMRCL. “The construction is expected to be completed by tomorrow. A 24- hour time will be required for the structure to dry. The collection of water into the dam to arrest the aquifer water causing the subsidence is expected to be started from late hours on Monday or early Tuesday,” said a KMRCL engineer. The rate of subsidence, according to the engineer, has come down from 50 mm per day on last Sunday to around 15 mm today.