Tunneling of Thane-Borivali twin tunnel to begin from October

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has taken up the Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project to cover the distance between Thane-Borivali in just 12 minutes. At present, while the work of launching a shaft for tunneling towards Thane is going on, MMRDA has passed an important milestone in order to take this project on a fast track, as per the report by Loksatta. 

The first TBM of the four Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) for tunneling has been completed. This first indigenous TBM will be brought to the launching shaft site in Thane in April from the Herenknet Company in Chennai. The TBM will be put underground in September and tunneling work will begin in early October. This TBM, which will enter Thane in April, has been named 'Nayak'. Meanwhile, four TBMs are required for tunneling and the remaining three TBMs will soon be introduced in Thane, Borivali.

The bhumipujan of this ambitious project was done by the Prime Minister in 2024 after which the work of the project commenced. The work of this project has been given to Megha Engineering Company based in Hyderabad. With the successful testing of the first TBM, it will now begin to be brought from Chennai to Thane in the next few days. This TBM will be rolled out in phases in 110 sections. 

The TBM will be connected after arrival in Thane. Then it will be September to release the TBM underground i.e. into the launching shaft. The tunneling work through 'Nayak' will be started from October. After that, one by one, the remaining three TBMs will be brought and released underground. Two TBMs will tunnel towards Thane and two TBMs towards Borivali. Thanekar-Mumbai people will have to wait till 2029-30 for the completion of this project and the entry into service of the double tunnel.

13 meters diameter, 200 tons weight

All the remaining four TBMs, including the 'Nayak' TBM, are more sophisticated than the existing TBMs. These TBMs will be 13 meters in diameter, 150 meters in length and 60 meters in width. A TBM weighs approximately 200 tons. Through this 'TBM', 15 meters of tunneling can be done per day.