Mumbai: The final shipment of the first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for the twin tunnels under the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project has arrived at Film City, Goregaon East. The second TBM is expected to arrive by December. In the meantime, the BMC has begun excavation of the launching shaft, with digging work currently reaching a depth of 3.5 meters.
Assembly and Launching Shaft Details
According to senior civic officials, "Several containers carrying parts of the first TBM have already been delivered, with the final shipment arriving on Tuesday. The equipment, shipped from Japan, is being unloaded at the JNPT port and transported to the project site via trailers. With all components now on-site, assembly of the TBM will begin and is expected to take around four months. Tunneling work for the GMLR project is scheduled to commence in August 2026."
The launching shaft—measuring 200m long, 50m wide, and 35m deep—will serve as the entry point for lowering and assembling the TBMs. The BMC has also secured around 10,000 sq. m of space at Josh Maidan, provided by the Film City authorities, for stacking and assembling TBM components. Before tunneling can begin, approximately 3 lakh cubic meters of earth will need to be excavated to prepare the site for TBM operations, said civic sources.
GMLR Project Overview
Under Phase 3(B) of the Rs 6,500 crores GMLR project, a 6.65-km corridor will be developed, including a 1.22-km triple-lane box tunnel at Film City and twin tunnels beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).
The tunnels will start at Film City in Goregaon East and emerge at Amar Junction in Mulund, currently a dense slum area. Of the total length, 5.30 km will be excavated using TBMs, with the remaining 1.35 km comprising approach roads and the box tunnel.
The twin tunnels will run at depths ranging from 20 to 160 metres below ground and will include cross-passages at intervals of every 300 metres. Designed to pass beneath the ecologically sensitive and topographically complex terrain of SGNP including hillocks, forest areas, and farmlands the tunnels will be excavated using two TBMs, both of which will commence operations from the launching shaft at Film City.
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Project Timeline and Benefits
The BMC aims to complete the twin tunnels by October 2028. The 12.2-km GMLR will connect the Western Express Highway at Goregaon with the Eastern Express Highway at Mulund, cutting travel time from 75 to 25 minutes. The project, being executed in four phases, has a total cost of Rs. 14,000 crore Once complete, it will provide seamless east-west connectivity across Mumbai.
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