Mumbai Coastal Road Project Set For Dec 2023 Inauguration, 57% Overall Work Complete As TBM 'Mavala' Excavates 600 m In Second Tunnel

With 57 per cent of the overall works complete and significant progress achieved on the complex tunnelling component of the project, the under-construction Mumbai coastal road is set to open to the public by December 2023.

The ambitious 10.58-km-long coastal road project (phase 1), once completed, will add an 8.5 km long and 20-metre wide sea promenade to the city between Priyadarshini Park at Napean Sea Road and the Worli side of the Bandra Worli Sea Link. The first phase of the coastal road is being built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) at an estimated cost of Rs 12,500 crores to speed up the suburban commute to and from South Mumbai.

The project is to be constructed in two phases. The second phase involves connecting Bandra Sea Link to Kandivali Junction. Work on this stretch is yet to commence.

The project involves construction of 12 metre wide twin tunnels under Malabar Hill (75 metres deep) and Girgaum Chowpatty (25 metres deep) between Priyadarshini Park and Marine Drive in South Mumbai. The length of each is 2.07 km from Priyadarshi Park to Chhoti Chowpatty at Marine Drive, close to the landmark Chowpatty beach at Girgaum.

In Dec 2020, Larsen & Toubro commenced the deployment of TBM Mavala – the largest tunnel boring machine (TBM) to ever be used in India – at the Priyadarshini Park launch ramp for building twin tunnels of the coastal road project.

Weighing 2,300 tonnes, 80 metres long and 12.19 metres in diameter, TBM Mavala was manufactured by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Co. Ltd. (CRCHI). It is named after the infantry warriors in Shivaji’s army.

TBM Mavala completed the first tunnelling work on January 11, 2022. It began the excavation work for the second tunnel on March 30. Mavala excavated around 600 metres of the second tunnel within three months.

While Larsen and Toubro is executing the Package 1 and 4 of the coastal road at a cost of ₹7,489 crore, a joint venture between Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) and Hyundai Development Company (45%) is executing the Package 2 and 3 at a cost of ₹2,126 crore.

The coastal project is set to dramatically transform the coastline in South Mumbai, which has a long history of reclamation. Once complete, the road will extend the coast up to 100 metres inside the sea.