• 1st Bowbazar group back home after 36-day hotel stay
    Times of India | 23 November 2022
  • KOLKATA: Dharani Sardar, 50, who stays on the second floor of 185/1B, BB Ganguly Street, returned to his rented mess room on Sunday night after 36 days of hotel stay.

    He was the first returnee after the October 14 subsidence incident on Madan Dutta Lane that forced many people to evacuate. Residents of the two buildings on BB Ganguly Street, situated opposite Madan Dutta Lane, were also asked to evacuate. The damage to these buildings were the least, assessed the JU team, following which KMRC authorities gave a green signal for the residents to return

    After staying for more than five weeks at a city hotel, Dharani said, “I have no one in my family and since 2006, I have been staying here as a boarder. The reason why, even during the time of stringent lockdown, I used to stay alone here when all boarders left”. Kashi Nath Dey, who works in the postal department and is originally from Burdwan, resides at the century-old boarding house popularly known as Khulna Mess. He joined his roommate Dharani on Monday evening. Rest of the ten boarders have started coming from Tuesday.

    Prabal Halder, 68, who is the resident of the first floor of the same building, keeps his two Labradors at his residence but is still staying at a hotel in central Kolkata. He said, “Repairing works of the cracks have been completed but they are yet to paint the interior of our rooms. After the subsidence, the building is a little tilted towards the south-east side and a corner-side balcony of the second floor was majorly damaged which was given some reinforcements and support only.”

    Haldar, a senior advocate with more than 42 years of experience, is having major problems in shuttling between hotel and home for almost every day to look after the pets and bring important documents of his clients, which are heaped at his library room.

    The families of Manbodh Prasad, Bharati Das and Shyamali Kundu of the adjacent 186 B B Ganguly Street returned to their homes from a Chandni Chowk hotel on Tuesday evening.

    Madan Dutta Lane, where the major cave-in had occurred, was opened to public and two-wheelers only about a week ago.

    A local tea stall owner, Lalu Shaw, of Madan Dutta Lane, who was the first to alert locals about the cracks around 4.30am on the day of incident and assisted in the evacuation operations, opened his shop on Tuesday. “For the last 38 days I had zero earnings which made my life miserable. On Sunday, I borrowed about Rs 800 to buy tea, sugar and kerosene to re-open my stall,” said Lalu, who stays with his elderly mother in the lane.

    “Engineers informed us that your building will be under observation after the intense grouting work done,”said Subrata Kar, a resident of 10, Madan Dutta Lane.
  • Link to this news (Times of India)