For residents of Jal Vayu Vihar, airport connectivity by Metro is cause for fear and anxiety. Sucheta Chakraborty reports why
The 32km Metro route runs along EM Bypass, enters Salt Lake from Chingrihata along the canal and proceeds towards New Town to reach the airport.
The bigger worry for the 282 families is that the overhead Metro viaduct would extend over the society’s office and run very close to the residential buildings, which might experience vibration damage during the construction.
When service on the route starts, residents fear that vibration and sound would become a constant hazard as the trains would run close to the buildings, jeopardising their peace and tranquillity.
Bolt from blue
It all started with a letter dated October 2, 2013, addressed to the chairman of Jal Vayu Vihar Co-operative Housing Society from the project manager of Gammon India, the executing body appointed by Rail Vikas Nigam for the Nicco Park-VIP Bazar stretch. It mentioned that the boundary wall of and the footpath flanking the housing society were coming in the way of a pier.
The letter, signed by project manager Uttam Kumar, sought permission to dig trenches to identify the underground utilities. Both “the footpath and boundary needs (sic) to be temporarily removed for trenching work”, the letter said. It also informed that “a temporary building, as shown in the enclosed drawing, will be partially affected during construction of piling foundation of work”.
“The letter was hand-delivered to us by a representative of Gammon India on October 9, along with a drawing of the plan,” says Commander (retd) Ajoy Roy, who was then the secretary of Jal Vayu Vihar Co-operative Society.
The information left the residents, most of them senior citizens retired from the defence forces, “in utter shock”.
“We are not against development work. But a pillar right at the entrance of our main gate will make life miserable for us. The gate is the only point through which vehicles can enter the complex. The other gate we have is on the Bypass and is so narrow that only pedestrians can use it. If our main gate is blocked it would become impossible for us to drive in and out of our complex,” said Roy.
Commodore (retd) Surjya Kumar Chanda, who owns a Wagon R, added: “The stretch of the road opening towards the Bypass would get partially blocked for us as the pillar would come up to the right of our main gate. If a fire breaks out there would be no space for a fire tender to enter our complex,” said Chanda.
The residents acted fast. A meeting was convened inviting all the members of the housing complex, after which a letter, dated October 17, was shot off to Rail Vikas Nigam citing the problems that would crop up if the location of the pier remained unchanged.
“The Gammon representatives sympathised with us. But since they are an executing body, it can hardly do anything to resolve the issue,” said Debasish Palit, a former air force personnel.
The pier is supposed to come up where the kitchen of the complex’s auditorium is located (marked on the Gammon plan as a “temporary building”), located next to the main gate and the guard room. The letter stated that there was no other space to shift these facilities.
Other than the other bigger problems, the letter also pointed to possible disruption of underground supply lines and the large number of trees that would be felled along the concrete road to make space for the viaduct construction. “We have requested them to reassess the alignment of the track so that it is at a safe distance from our complex,” said Roy.
Officialspeak
A senior official of Rail Vikas Nigam, when contacted by The Telegraph Salt Lake, said the matter had been sent to the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) for re-examination. “An initial discussion has taken place with RITES. The Sukantanagar side (the opposite side of the road) had been considered and rejected for the laying of the route as it was affecting more people. It would take some more time before any decision is taken,” he said. Meanwhile, the residents are keeping their fingers crossed.
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| Pier number 322 is robbing the night’s sleep of residents of Jal Vayu Vihar, in LB Block, at the southwestern extremity of Sector III. The pier, one of the many that are coming up for the New Garia-airport Metro extension project, is supposed to come up at the entrance of the housing complex, at the Chingrihata end of the concrete road that runs parallel to the Eastern Drainage Canal. |
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| The proposed location for pier 322 (circled). Picture by Sudeshna Banerjee |
When service on the route starts, residents fear that vibration and sound would become a constant hazard as the trains would run close to the buildings, jeopardising their peace and tranquillity.
Bolt from blue
It all started with a letter dated October 2, 2013, addressed to the chairman of Jal Vayu Vihar Co-operative Housing Society from the project manager of Gammon India, the executing body appointed by Rail Vikas Nigam for the Nicco Park-VIP Bazar stretch. It mentioned that the boundary wall of and the footpath flanking the housing society were coming in the way of a pier.
The letter, signed by project manager Uttam Kumar, sought permission to dig trenches to identify the underground utilities. Both “the footpath and boundary needs (sic) to be temporarily removed for trenching work”, the letter said. It also informed that “a temporary building, as shown in the enclosed drawing, will be partially affected during construction of piling foundation of work”.
“The letter was hand-delivered to us by a representative of Gammon India on October 9, along with a drawing of the plan,” says Commander (retd) Ajoy Roy, who was then the secretary of Jal Vayu Vihar Co-operative Society.
The information left the residents, most of them senior citizens retired from the defence forces, “in utter shock”.
“We are not against development work. But a pillar right at the entrance of our main gate will make life miserable for us. The gate is the only point through which vehicles can enter the complex. The other gate we have is on the Bypass and is so narrow that only pedestrians can use it. If our main gate is blocked it would become impossible for us to drive in and out of our complex,” said Roy.
Commodore (retd) Surjya Kumar Chanda, who owns a Wagon R, added: “The stretch of the road opening towards the Bypass would get partially blocked for us as the pillar would come up to the right of our main gate. If a fire breaks out there would be no space for a fire tender to enter our complex,” said Chanda.
The residents acted fast. A meeting was convened inviting all the members of the housing complex, after which a letter, dated October 17, was shot off to Rail Vikas Nigam citing the problems that would crop up if the location of the pier remained unchanged.
“The Gammon representatives sympathised with us. But since they are an executing body, it can hardly do anything to resolve the issue,” said Debasish Palit, a former air force personnel.
The pier is supposed to come up where the kitchen of the complex’s auditorium is located (marked on the Gammon plan as a “temporary building”), located next to the main gate and the guard room. The letter stated that there was no other space to shift these facilities.
Other than the other bigger problems, the letter also pointed to possible disruption of underground supply lines and the large number of trees that would be felled along the concrete road to make space for the viaduct construction. “We have requested them to reassess the alignment of the track so that it is at a safe distance from our complex,” said Roy.
Officialspeak
A senior official of Rail Vikas Nigam, when contacted by The Telegraph Salt Lake, said the matter had been sent to the Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) for re-examination. “An initial discussion has taken place with RITES. The Sukantanagar side (the opposite side of the road) had been considered and rejected for the laying of the route as it was affecting more people. It would take some more time before any decision is taken,” he said. Meanwhile, the residents are keeping their fingers crossed.
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