The boring of the second tunnel of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s ambitious project was finally completed on Monday evening, May 29, 2023, after five-month delay. The work on it started on April 1, 2022.
Thereafter, a breakthrough of second underground tunnel of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project was conducted on Tuesday afternoon, May 30, at Priyadarshini Park near Breach Candy.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had also attended the event.
#LIVE | मुंबई किनारी रस्ता प्रकल्पातील स्वराज्यभूमी ते प्रियदर्शनी पार्क या दुसऱ्या बोगद्याचे खनन काम पूर्ण. कार्यक्रमास मुख्यमंत्री एकनाथ शिंदे आणि उपमुख्यमंत्री देवेंद्र फडणवीस यांची उपस्थितीhttps://t.co/xyDxXri0aU
— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) May 30, 2023
Speaking at the breakthrough event, CM Shinde said: “The coastal road will be a new stepping stone towards the growth of Mumbai.” The Coastal road will change the way how Mumbaikars commute… this is just the first phase and we will expand the road network till Mira Bhayander and Dahisar,” Shinde added.
The bumper-to-bumper traffic will be reduced after the project comes into existence, he added.
It is pertinent to note that 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 length of the north-bound tunnel from Priyadarshini Park to Girgaon Chowpatty is 2,072 mt, while the south-bound tunnel is 2,082mt.
Meanwhile, the coastal road’s first phase, which will be a stretch of 10.58 km, 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 undersea twin tunnels at a depth of 10-12 mt and 70 mt at Malabar Hill. The BMC has procured the largest TBM in the country, named Mavala, which has a diameter of 12.2 mt.
Meanwhile, 75 per cent of the work has been completed, and part of the coastal road is likely to be ready by November 2023.
However, it will take an additional six months to complete the project, which will be fully commissioned by May 2024, considering the demand of local fishermen to widen the navigation span of 120mt for their boats.
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