Mumbai: BMC on Monday began excavation of the first of two 5.3-km-long tunnels under Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) for its Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project.The twin three-lane tunnels will connect Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari (Film City) in Goregaon East with Amar Nagar in Mulund West. The first tunnel boring machine (TBM), named Tulsi, was commissioned on Monday to begin excavation.The 12.2-km GMLR is being executed in four phases to provide a direct east-west road link across Mumbai.The tunnel component is part of Phase 3B of the project and has been planned using Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) TBM technology to minimise the impact on the environment and biodiversity of SGNP.The tunnel package has a total length of 6.6 km and includes the two 5.3-km tunnels, 17 cross passages, 720 metres of twin-box tunnels and 600 metres of approach roads at Goregaon and Mulund.BMC said the project has received required environmental clearances from the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change for Phases 1 and 2, as well as the necessary tree-felling permission from Supreme Court.“Around 906 project-affected persons are being rehabilitated at Kanjurmarg in six ground-plus-23-storey buildings. The tunnels will have several modern safety and operational systems, including mechanical ventilation, mist-based firefighting systems, CCTV, SCADA controls, LED lighting and advanced signage. Utility ducts have also been planned below the carriageways, with an 1,800-mm-diameter water pipeline to be laid through each tunnel,” said a civic official.The project will use New Austrian Tunnelling Method to construct cross passages. The contractor will also be responsible for operation and maintenance of the project for 10 years after completion.BMC said the project has achieved around 21% physical progress. Assembly of TBM-1 has been completed and its Site Acceptance Test was successfully conducted. .The entire project is targeted for completion by Feb 2029.
