The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on Monday, 11 May, said that it has completed 250 metres of underground tunnelling for the Orange Gate-Marine Drive Urban Road Tunnel, a 7 Km twin-tunnel project designed to cut travel time between Orange Gate and Marine Drive to just 5 minutes.
The authority said the tunnelling work is being powered by India’s largest slurry shield tunnel boring machine for an urban road project.
The Orange Gate-Marine Drive Tunnel is one of India’s most complex urban tunnelling projects, involving the construction of twin tunnels stretching over 7 Km beneath Mumbai.
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According to MMRDA, the tunnel alignment passes beneath Central Railway, Western Railway and Metro Line 3, requiring precision engineering through some of the city’s busiest transport corridors.
Once completed, the tunnel is expected to enable seamless east-west connectivity between Orange Gate and Marine Drive.
The project is also planned to directly integrate with the Coastal Road and Atal Setu, improving movement between key parts of Mumbai’s road network.
MMRDA said the tunnel will significantly reduce congestion and emissions across Mumbai by creating a faster underground route for vehicles.
