The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) restarted the construction work of two underground water tunnels that is expected to boost water supply in parts of central suburbs and the city. While one of the tunnels will be from Chembur to Trombay, the other will run from Chembur-Wadala-Parel.
The project will take approximately six years to complete, and the entire project of constructing the two tunnels will cost the civic body Rs 1,875 crore. BMC official said.
The first tunnel between Chembur to Trombay, 5.5 km long and 2.5 m wide, will pass from under the Hedgewar udyan (garden) at Amar Mahal in Chembur. It will help improve water supply in the areas of Trombay and Chembur (M west ward), Govandi and Mankhurd area (M east ward). This tunnel will cost Rs 750 crore.
Meanwhile, the Chembur-Wadala-Parel tunnel, 9.7 km long and 2.5 m wide, will help improve water supply in areas of Sion, Matunga and Wadala (F north ward), Parel, Sewri and Naigaum (F south ward). It will also benefit a few areas in Byculla (E ward) and Kurla (L ward). This tunnel will start from the same spot from where Chembur-Trombay tunnel starts, and will pass via Prateeksha Nagar in Sion and from under Sadakant udyan in Parel. The Chembur-Wadala-Parel water tunnel will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,125 crore.
"The projects are very essential and we do not wish to delay them any further. Workers and officers entering the sites are all sprayed on with sanitisers and are mandatorily using face masks, gloves and even face shields," said a senior BMC official.
The tunnels were announced during the 2011 budget however, it took years for the civic body to prepare the proposal and acquire necessary permissions and float the tenders, the proposal was then tabled in the standing committee in 2018, then in 2019. The construction work tunnel was then hit by the coronavirus outbreak after the lockdown was announced. The civic body has finally restarted the work.
