Tunnelling work for Mumbai coastal road to begin on Jan 7

The tunnel boring machine, which is said to be the largest in India, will be used to create a 3.45-kilometre (km) twin undersea tunnel from Priyadarshini Park to Girgaum Chowpatty

After several delays, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will finally begin the tunnel-boring work for the ₹12,721-crore coastal road project from January 7, municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Monday. He also said that 17% of the work for the project has been completed so far at three sites (Worli, Amarsons Garden and Priyadarshini Park) even though the civic body had set a target of completing 30% of work by December.

The tunnel-boring machine being assembled at the coastal road construction site in Priyadarshini Park on December 7. (HT FILE)

The tunnel boring machine (TBM), which is said to be the largest in India, will be used to create a 3.45-kilometre (km) twin undersea tunnel from Priyadarshini Park to Girgaum Chowpatty. BMC has completed the assembling of the parts of the TBM, it had purchased from China last year, at the work site at Priyadarshini Park in Malabar Hill. The machine arrived in April this year and was taken to the site in many dismantled parts on 17 trailer trucks.The tunnelling work for the underground section of the coastal road was delayed owing to the Covid-19 restrictions and also because BMC refused to seek help from China to assemble the parts, amid tensions on the border.

While the entire coastal road was slated to be completed by October 2022, Chahal said that the project will now be functional by July 2023. “Substantial work has happened in the past couple of months. About 400-metre-long TBM (diameter of 39.6 feet) now stands fully assembled on the reclaimed land, and the tunnel-boring commences from January 7,” he said.

A senior civic official said 175 acres of land under the Arabian Sea has been reclaimed so far, while the remaining 102 acres is being reclaimed.