PM Modi to perform ‘Bhoomi pooojan’ for two underground twin tunnel projects on July 13 – Details here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to perform the “bhoomi poojan” ceremony for two ambitious underground twin tunnel projects in Mumbai during his visit to the city on Saturday. The tunnels will pass below the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and will have a similar alignment.

Of the two twin tunnels, one is an underground tunnel that is part of the ambitious Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR), pegged at a cost of Rs 6,300 crore and being constructed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The other project is the Thane-Borivali Twin Tunnel, with a cost of Rs 19,257 crore and being executed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

GMLR twin tunnels

While the entire GMLR will span 12.2 km, the tunnels will each be 4.7 km long.The depth of the tunnels will vary between 20 meters and 220 meters, depending on the topography and geology, as they will pass beneath the SGNP and Aarey Forest.

The tunnels will be constructed using a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) and will be equipped with advanced ventilation and lighting systems, along with electric surveillance.Civic officials said that the finishing diameter of the tunnels will be between 13 and 15 meters, making it the country’s largest cylindrical tunnel.

Currently, the country’s largest tunnel in terms of diameter is being constructed for the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP), with a finishing diameter of 12 meters.The two new tunnels will run beneath the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and will have almost identical alignments. The GMLR tunnel is designed to connect Film City inside the Aarey Forest in the western suburbs with Khindi Pada in Bhandup in the eastern suburbs.

The work order for this project was issued in July last year to NCC Limited and J Kumar Infra, with the BMC targeting a 2028 completion date.

Thane-Borivali twin tunnels

The 11.8 km long Thane-Borivali tunnels will also pass beneath the SGNP, connecting Borivali in the western suburbs with Thane in the east. This project will reduce the current 23 km distance between the two locations by 12 km.The construction of these tunnels is divided into two packages. The first package will cost Rs 7,178 crore, while the second package will cost Rs 5,879 crore.

The tunnels will feature two vehicular carriageways, each with a diameter of 12.2 meters.