Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities earlier this week gave its approval to shift 600 m towards the eastern side the twin tunnels of the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, This will be for an additional cost of INR2.47 billion to the initially estimated cost of INR63.01 billion. These tunnels will pass under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) and connect Goregaon in the western suburbs with Vikhroli in the east. The tunnels are expected to be completed by the middle of 2028. 

Initially, the twin tunnels were to pass below the tribal hamlets of Habale Pada and Nagarmudi Pada, which are located within the periphery of SGNP ( Sanjay Gandhi National Park). The alignment of the tunnels was directly under the farmlands on which the tribal communities are dependent for their livelihood. The new alignments pass below Film City, below the forest and hillocks without affecting the farmlands. 

Construction has already begun. Civic authorities have earmarked a land parcel within Film City for the TBM shaft, which is currently being excavated. In the first quarter of 2025, the TBMs are set to arrive from China. They will be assembled on-site and lowered to the shaft from where boring work is expected to start in April 2025.  The first tube will be bored from the western suburbs to the eastern end, where TBM will be taken out. The second tube will be excavated from the eastern suburbs. 

The 12-km-long GMLR will traverse towards the east from the Western Express Highway (WEH) and extend till Mulund in the eastern suburbs. At present there’s no direct connectivity between these two parts of the city and travel time during peak hours range from 75 to 90 minutes. After the GMLR is ready, travel time between these two points will come down to 25 minutes.

Click here for further information and in/59 for the tunnelbuilder archive and also visit https://portal.mcgm.gov.in/. 49/24.