The ongoing metro tunnel work is giving sleepless nights to some residents in Shivajinagar. In the second such incident, slurry gushed into a house opposite Government V.K.O. School in the wee hours on Tuesday, forcing six of the family to move out of the house.
One of the elderly members, who is paralysed and on oxygen support, had to be shifted to a relative’s house after the incident.
Naseema Banu, a resident of the affected house, said, “On Monday night, the metro people had come with some machines. They did some tests related to tunnel work. We did not face any problem. Around 4 a.m., we started feeling some vibrations and slurry water started oozing out from the ground into one of the rooms. My aged sister, who is paralysed, was in the room. We immediately shifted her to one of our relatives’ houses. Within no time, the entire house filled with slurry water and through the main door, it started flowing on the road.” Ms. Banu said that metro officials assured them of providing accommodation and agreed to bear the cost.
A shop owner in the area said, “Slurry was flowing on the road. The manhole got clogged and metro workers cleared it. The slurry also entered one of the small eateries located next to the house. We are hoping that the officials concerned take utmost care while carrying out the work.”
Chief PRO of BMRCL B.L. Yeshwanth Chavan said, “The slurry leakage has occurred in one of the houses on Shivaji Road. The incident happened around 11 p.m. on Monday. The slurry has been cleaned and necessary grouting has been done. The occupants have been safely moved out. The slurry leakage on the surface is due to unconsolidated sandy clay strata in the area.”
A tunnel boring machine (TBM), Urja, is burrowing a tunnel seven and half metres below the surface. The TBM had started tunnelling work from Cantonment metro station last August.
