Part of tunnel work for Coastal Rd done
MUMBAI: The first breakthrough of India’s largest Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was completed on Monday with the tunnel works for the ambitious 10-km-long Mumbai Coastal Road Project partially completeda year after work started in January 2021.
According to BMC officials, the TBM named Mavla completed one side of the 2-km-long tunnel between Priyadarshini Park and Marine Drive. It is a 3.45-km-long twin undersea tunnel from Priyadarshini Park to Marine Drive near Girgaon Chowpatty. The remaining part of the tunnel works will be done without the boring machine.
The parts of the TBM, the BMC had purchased from China in 2020 and had arrived in India in April 2020. After assembling the boring machine, the BMC had started work in January 2021 and now the other side between Marine Drive to Priyadarshini Park will be taken up.
Addressing the breakthrough ceremony via video conferencing, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said that the Mawla tunnel work is going on smoothly despite many challenges. He said that by accepting these challenges, the BMC has continued its vigorous journey towards fulfilling the dreams of Mumbaikars.
“I would also like to express complete support and cooperation of the state government for the completion of the project,” he added. Others present at the event also included Guardian Minister of Suburban Mumbai, Aaditya Thackeray, City’s Guardian Minister Aslam Shaikh and Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar
A BMC official from the Coastal Road Department said, “We are under preparations for completing the 1.4 km tunnel on the Priyadarshini Park to Marine Drive stretch and works on the other side of the tunnel will start by April 2022 and we aim to complete it by December 2022. The time taken in the second side will be lesser considering now we know the soil and strata of the area.”
It will operate 25 metres below the surface at Girgaum and 75 metres below the surface at Malabar Hill. The width of each tunnel will be 12 metres, with two lanes – each 3-3.2 metres wide – one emergency lane. The BMC claims to have completed above 20% of the work for the Coastal Road Project and has set a deadline of July 2023 to complete project.
Meanwhile, the construction work of the Rs 12,700 crore coastal road was started in October 2018, and since then the project has been headlining for environmental issues. In July 2019, the Bombay high court (HC) put a stay on the project citing that it needed to have environmental clearances. The coastal road project was originally planned between Nariman Point and Kandivali, claiming it will ease traffic for those travelling between north and south.