Infrastructure
Mumbai: BMC To Begin Underground Twin Tunnel Excavation For Goregaon-Mulund Link Road Project By Early 2026
A tunnel (Representational image)
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will commence excavation work on two twin tunnels under the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project in early 2026, Indian Express reported, citing a senior civic official.
According to the IE report, officials revealed that a launch shaft is currently under construction at the GMLR site to deploy the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) for excavation.
Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner and state-appointed administrator Bhushan Gagrani visited the worksites of both the GMLR and the Versova-Bhayander segment of the Mumbai Coastal Road Project on Saturday to review progress.
The TBM, imported from Japan earlier this year, is now being assembled.
Unlike the Mumbai Coastal Road Project—which used one TBM for two tunnels—the GMLR will employ two separate TBMs to simultaneously excavate the twin tunnels.
"At present, assembling of the spare parts of the machine is underway and the TBM is expected to be ready by January next year. Following that the digging of the first twin tunnel will start," an official was quoted as saying by IE.
The second TBM is scheduled to arrive by December, and after its assembly is finished, the digging for the second twin tunnel will begin immediately.
The TBM will be lowered in the shaft early next year, and boring is expected to commence within the first half of 2026, the official confirmed.
The 12.2-km Goregaon-Mulund Link Road aims to create a high-speed east-west corridor across Mumbai, connecting Goregaon to Mulund.
Its most critical feature is the 6.65-km twin-tunnel system running beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park, with depths ranging from 20 to 160 metres.
The GMLR project carries an estimated total cost of Rs 14,000 crore, of which Rs 6,600 crore has been pegged for underground tunnel excavation.
Separated by 300 metres, the twin tunnels will feature six vehicular lanes and incorporate modern safety and utility features, including CCTV surveillance, an advanced fire-fighting system, utility ducts, and rainwater harvesting lines.
