The Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation (Maha-Metro) has started its tunnel work beneath the Mutha river near Shivajinagar, for the Pune metro project.
This will be a 1.6 kilometre underground tunnel from Agriculture college, to Shivajinagar, via the civil court and Budhwar peth.
After completing the tunnel, Pune will be the fourth city after Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai, where an underground Metro line crosses a river.
Atul Gadgil, Maha-Metro director, said, “We just entered the river bed of the Mutha river. The total width of the river bed is 90 metres and of that, water is flowing along a 30-35 metre stretch. The remaining part of the river bed is dry. We will reach below the water in the coming two-three days. We are 18 metres beneath ground level.”
He added, “From the Swargate side, we have completed more than 100 metres of tunnelling work so far. We have a lot of work to do in the Mandai area.”
Gadgil says that the rail level below the surface of the Mutha river is 28 metres, the lowest point on the metro route. “The tunnel will be six metres below the lowest point of the river. After that, there is a seven-metre ridge of the tunnel.”
The Pune metro has an underground stretch measuring 5.019km on its PCMC to Swargate corridor. There are five underground stations. Of these five stations, there are three stations where Maha-Metro is erecting multi-modal hubs.
{{/usCountry}}The Pune metro has an underground stretch measuring 5.019km on its PCMC to Swargate corridor. There are five underground stations. Of these five stations, there are three stations where Maha-Metro is erecting multi-modal hubs.
{{/usCountry}}The city, as per plan, has three metro corridors being developed by Maha-Metro. It will cover a total distance of 31km.
Besides Pune, the Kolkata metro crosses the Hooghly river where the tunnel has been dug 33 metres below the river bed. In Mumbai, the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) completed one of the twin tunnels passing under the city’s Mithi river. The two tunnels, one of which is complete, are almost 12.5m below Mithi river. Chennai has an operational line under water with the proposed Metro line passing 20 metres under the Adyar river and Chepet lake, while travelling between Madhavaram and Sholinganallur.
Underground stations Rail level below surface
Shivajinagar 16 metres
Civil Court 28 metres
Budhwar peth 25 metres
Mandai 20 metres
Swargate 22 metres