The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) yesterday (Wednesday, 19th August 2020) achieved a major milestone after it completed tunnelling under the Mithi river, as part of the construction of Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz). It also marked the 29th tunnel breakthrough of the total 32 for the Metro line.
The 1.5-km up-line stretch between Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and Dharavi was commissioned in August 2019. In March, the down-line tunnel of 1.5km from BKC to Dharavi was completed. Of the total 3-km (up and down-line) stretch from BKC to Dharavi, 484m of the tunnel lies below the active Mithi river channel.
Ranjit Singh Deol, managing director, MMRC said, “Notwithstanding the fact that the project is challenging; with high water tables and complex geology, I am happy that our team has accomplished the assigned task despite Covid-19 related restrictions.”
Till date, MMRC has completed 85% of tunnelling with the help of 17 tunnel boring machines. Around 59% of the overall construction work for Metro-3 has been completed.