Mumbai will get yet another tunnel boring machine but not for Metro 3 project, this time it will be for coastal road project. Reports have surfaced saying that the city will receive its largest tunnel boring machine from China in February for BMC's coastal road project.
According to Hindustan Times, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) will be 12.19 metre wide, as tall as 4.5 storeys of a building. In comparison, the ongoing Metro 3 construction uses a 7-metre-wide TBM. This TBM will drill the 3.4-kilometre-long twin tunnels. These twin tunnels are partially under the sea, between Girgaum and Malabar Hill. The tunnels will be 3.4 kilometre long each counting the distance of entry and exit routes.
“The TBM will be imported from China and will arrive in Mumbai in February 2020. Once the machine comes, work on constructing the tunnels will start right away,” Additional municipal commissioner in charge of the coastal road project, Vijay Singhal told Hindustan Times.
The coastal road, when and if completed, is projected to be used by nearly 130,000 vehicles every day and reduce the 120-minute ride between South Mumbai and western suburbs to 40 minutes.
The project has faced resistance from citizen groups, environmental activists, and the fishing community in Worli Koliwada on the potential damage it can cause to the environment.
