István Tarlós, chairman of the Hungarian FIDESZ political party, has called on mayor Gábor Demszky to investigate the subsidence of a university building. The century-old “CH” building, which stands next to the site of a new metro station at Gellért tér, has sunk 55mm into the earth since construction began and any further subsidence could make the situation critical, he said.

"The lack of preparedness surrounding the construction of the fourth metro line is outrageous," said Tarlós. Speaking to the press last Tuesday, he said that recommendations by surveyors to build concrete reinforcements under the BME building – which would have run to some HUF 800 million (€3.05 million) – were ignored in a bid to cut costs. He said that this "penny pinching" has now led to physical damage, not to mention losses due to halting construction.

The company charged with coordinating the massive construction project, DBR, denies that the new metro station beneath the building poses any structural risk. In a statement issued four days before Tarlós made his comments, the company said that subsidence of around five centimetres and cracks in the BME building of up to 5mm had been allowed for in the construction plans, and was agreed in a contract between DBR and the university. The company claims that the cracks that have so far appeared in the building are no wider than 1.5 mm.

The statement from the developer was issued after the university turned to Budapest City Council asking for several million forints to repair damage that has occurred since construction of the M4 station began. DBR was in the news last year when anglers accused it of causing a one-metre drop in the water level of the Bottomless Lake (Feneketlen tó) in a popular park near Kosztolanyi Dezso tér in District XI.

Earlier this autumn, similar problems occurred in Amsterdam, where some monumental buildings in the city centre were damaged. Click here for more information on that accident.