Mumbai’s Metro-3 gets its first tunnel

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the breakthrough as a “historic” and “momentous” occasion.

In a major milestone in the construction of the city’s first underground Metro corridor, the first tunnel of the 33.5-km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz (Metro-3 line) was completed on Monday.

Metro-3 line workers celebrating the first tunnel breakthrough in Mumbai. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

Chief minister (CM) Devendra Fadnavis termed the breakthrough as a “historic” and “momentous” occasion.

The 1.26-km tunnel between Pali ground in Marol, Andheri (East) and the International airport terminal T2 was completed in 259 days.

According to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) started working on the tunnel from January 8 from Marol. It was completed with an average speed of 4.6m/day.

The CM said, “The underground Metro’s integration with other elevated Metro lines will provide convenience to commuters. It is our plan to provide easy connectivity so commuters can travel across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) within an hour.”

Development, which is a key focus area for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government was highlighted by Fadnavis. Hitting out at the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government which had planned to transform Mumbai into Shanghai, Fadnavis, who was visibly in a poll mood, said, “The projects that are planned are not merely on paper...We want to make Mumbai a world-class city, not Shanghai, like the previous government. We want people from Shanghai to come visit Mumbai. With projects like Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, coastal road, Versova Bandra sea link, the Metro network, the face of Mumbai will change in the next three to four years.”

The 4.15-km package section between Terminal T2 to Aarey, of which the 1.26-km tunnel is a part, is being constructed by engineering giants Larsen & Toubro and Shanghai-based STEC.

The tunnelling done by TBM ‘Wainganga - 1’ broke through rocky strata made of basalt, breccia and tuff near Terminal T2, where an underground station is proposed.

“It charted its course below an important infrastructure like Metro-1 and Sahar Elevated Road. The 92-m Wainganga shaped the tunnel with 901 RCC cement rings,” a MMRC statement said.