Mumbai: After a delay of five months, the boring of the second tunnel of the ambitious Mumbai coastal road project was completed on Monday evening. The work on it started on April 1 last year.
However, the tunnelling work was halted for three months after a part of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) was damaged. The work resumed at the end of March when the new spare part arrived from Italy. Even after the repairs, the work had to be carried out cautiously, which took another two months. A civic official said that work on fire safety measures in the first tunnel is underway.
The breakthrough of the first tunnel happened on January 10 last year. The length of the north-bound tunnel from Priyadarshini Park to Girgaon Chowpatty is 2,072mt, while the south-bound tunnel is 2,082mt.
Coastal road’s first phase
The coastal road’s first phase (a stretch of 10.58km) is being constructed by the BMC from the Princess Street flyover at Marine Drive to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The road will have twin tunnels at a depth of 10-12mt and 70mt at Malabar Hill. The BMC has procured the largest TBM in the country, named Mavala, which has a diameter of 12.2mt.
Meanwhile, 75% of the work has been completed, and part of the coastal road is likely to be ready by November 2023. Considering the demand of local fishermen to widen the navigation span of 120mt for their boats, it will take an additional six months to complete the project, which will be fully commissioned by May 2024.
