Crumbling SNB ‘Thakurbari’ prepares for tunnel borer

Kolkata: A 170-year-old “thakurbari”, a building condemned by Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in 2012, is being prepared for the advent of the tunnel-boring-machine (TBM) Chandi. In a month or so, Chandi will start boring under this wobbly structure at 9, SN Banerjee Road.

The nine-cottah property is a block from Futnani Chambers that tops the list of 86 unsafe buildings identified between the SN Banerjee Road-JL Nehru Road crossing and Wellington Square in the first phase of the building condition survey (BCS). Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation (KMRC), implementing agency of the Rs 8,575-crore Salt Lake-Howrah link, has deemed 9, SN Banerjee Road critical and has started taking reinforcement measures well ahead of the tunneling. The address, maintained by a trustee, has 21 tenants. “The building is falling to pieces, but tenants have stayed on hoping to benefit when it’s up for sale,” said Subrata Das, a civil engineer, one of the tenants.

Das had supervised repairs of the building in 2012, soon after it had been condemned by KMC. At that time, the tenants had raised Rs 80,000 among themselves and repaired a part of the southwestern side. The eastern part collapsed while the repairs were going on, but there was no money left to complete the work. “The tunnel borer will move much below the ground so it’s vibration shouldn’t affect the foundation. But the ground settlement caused by the tunnelling will disturb the equilibrium. And then, the structure might just start crumbling,” said Das.

Satish N Choithramani, another tenant who pays Rs 250 for his portion, pointed at the sprawling thakurdalan (the puja area) in the north which is painted white for the annual Durga Puja and Jagaddhatri Puja. “Although the thakurdalan looks good, it’s condition is as precarious as the rest of the structure. The columns in front are ornamental and do not dig into the foundation. They can topple due to the slightest vibration. The condition of the two load-bearing pillars is just as bad,” said Choithramani, who runs his mobile service centre here and lives in Moulali.

The west-bound TBM started digging through SN Banerjee Road a fortnight ago and will cover the first 200m — till Regal Cinema — from the SN Banerjee Road-JL Nehru Road crossing in less than a week.