Underground tunnel work for Metro 3 gives residents sleepless nights

After a year of noisily buzzing its way into the lives and peace of Marol gaothan residents the Metro IIIs tunnel boring machine TBM has now allegedly made a crack for their homesSince the past 10 days night owl TBM has allegedly widened cracks in some old houses and created new ones in others Several senior citizens including Audrey Nunes 65 who reside in the area have complained of frequent headaches due to the constant vibration When I sleep it feels as though there is a grinding mill underneath my pillow and the windows keep rattling People are getting headaches because theyre not able to sleep properlyResidents allege that the machine has widened some cracks in their homes and in some places introduced new ones PicsShadab KhanWe understand that the work is necessary and the entire city will benefit from it But do we have to bear the cost of development she said adding that the Metro officials should be a little considerate towards their problems Nunes said that while the Metro 3 work has been going on for a long time it has gotten worse since December 23Cracking onApart from the noise it is now creating cracks in homes claim citizens While some of the cracks that have appeared on the houses are old and expanding other residents have complained of new ones over the past few days One of them is Kalpana Harshad Dhuri who has watched an L shaped crack on the wall of her home expand over the past weekThe boring machine is allegedly expanding old cracks and making new onesDhuris house is more than 80 years old and was redeveloped in 2000 The crack appeared a couple of months ago But since the tunnel boring machine has been travelling under our homes the crack has been widening and the plaster is coming off The vibrations are louder in the night because it is quieter Were unable to sleep without constantly worrying about our house she saidMeeting with MMRCAfter many other residents shared Dhuris plight Godfrey Pimenta a citizen activist and one of her neighbours who has also felt TBMs vibrations decided to take up the issue with the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC officials on December 31 In the meeting we explained to the officials that we were unable to sleep at night since the work takes place at odd hours from 11 pm to 6 am We asked them to work from 6 am till midnight instead and stop using the machine at night Even though they promised to do so on Monday they stopped work at 3 am and then started at 5 am once again he saidMetro III work has been going on in Marol for around a yearDuring the meeting the residents also brought up the issue of the structural damage their buildings were suffering due to the construction work One of the dilapidated homes in the gaothan Mary House was repaired by MMRC But so many other buildings have suffered similar damage and it is unfair of MMRC to ignore those They should at least take up repairs of the structurally weak buildings which have been damaged by Metro construction Pimenta addedAfter speaking to MMRC didnt yield fruitful results residents affected by the Metro work are going to hold a protest on SaturdayPimenta said that since MMRC didnt address the residents issues they have no choice but to hold a protest We tried to resolve the issue in an amicable manner but there was no solution We will now conduct a protest on Saturday against the Metro officials he saidMMRC saysSpeaking to midday about the allegations a MMRC spokesperson said No cracks have developed due to tunnelling activity Construction activities are carried out by following requisite safety norms The vibrations observed at the Marol site were within permissible limits and absolutely harmlessCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates