Dream of making Mumbai an ‘ideal city’ coming true! First underground Mumbai Metro tunnel project complete

Mumbai, September 25: And it’s finally here! India’s financial capital Mumbai is all set to embrace its first underground metro project. Hoisting the national flag, the first step in the construction of the underground project has been taken with an end-to-end completion of a 1.26km tunnel. The metro project gives a major relief to Mumbaikars from the haphazard traffic and will reduce their traveling time.

 

The tunnel starts from Municipal Pali ground at Marol village in Andheri (E) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport Terminal-2 station of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ corridor of the Metro-3 project.

Speaking at the launch of the event, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that this i9s a historic moment for all and this is just the beginning of the many breakthroughs coming in the near future. There would be many such breakthroughs in the days to come and all for the benefits of the Mumbaikars. There are many infrastructure projects, including the new airport at Navi Mumbai, will change the face of the city in three years.

On Monday, Waingaga — the Tunnel Boring Machine that was commissioned on January 8 from Pali ground in Marol — completed its tunnel drive of 1.26 km at the Terminal 2 station. This marks the first tunnel of the Colaba-Bandra-SEEPZ Metro-3 corridor that will connect business hubs, including MIDC and SEEPZ, which are not linked by the suburban railway.

CM Devendra Fadnavis further added that their aim is to make 1 hour travel time possible from any corner of Mumbai to any other corner and that too with an end to end solution. This will change the face of the Mumbai in the next 2 to 3 years.

Officials from the Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, the consortia partners for the construction of package 7 of the line that runs from Marol Naka to SEEPZ via MIDC, were present at the event.

Addressing them, Fadnavis said, “Earlier, our previous rulers used to say that Mumbai should become Shanghai. Our priorities have changed. We want Mumbai to remain Mumbai so much so that people of Shanghai should visit Mumbai and take note of its development. We must make Mumbai a city that is suitable to be lived in the 21st century.”

He added that Mumbai residents will receive an end-to-end connectivity through this Metro line. Projects, including an integrated ticketing system, trans-harbor line, Bandra-Versova Link Road, coastal road and Navi Mumbai International Airport will change the face of Mumbai in the next two to three years.

The Metro 3 line will be connected to the existing Versova-Ghatkopar Metro 1 line at Marol Naka and Samarth Nagar-Vikhroli Metro 6 corridor at SEEPZ.