mumbai

Updated: Oct 22, 2016 22:21 IST

More than two years after laying the foundation stone, construction of the 33.5-kilometre Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro corridor began at multiple places across the city on Friday. This would be Mumbai’s first underground Metro rail corridor.

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), the state government’s undertaking that is implementing the project, started the construction works mainly near six of the proposed Metro stations — Cuffe Parade, Azad Maidan, Science Museum Road, Vidya Nagari (Mumbai University), Sahar Road and MIDC station.

Commenting on the development, an MMRC official said, “We have started works at the sites where the underground Metro stations are proposed to be constructed by the cut-and-cover method.” He added, “The stations that are to be constructed by tunneling will be taken up later as it will take at least eight months for the contractors to make the customised tunnel boring machines.”

Under the cut and cover method, a trench is excavated and roofed over, while the tunnel boring method is preferred for extremely congested places.

At other locations, the contractors have started piling for Metro stations as well as preparing the ground for the tunnel boring machine launching shaft, the MMRC official added.

The MMRC aims to complete the Metro corridor by 2020, and extend it till Colaba by 2021.

The project, cited as one of the city’s most expensive infrastructure works, is estimated to cost Rs 23,136 crore as per the initial estimates.

Sena minister meets CM to discuss new Metro line

Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde and MP Shrikant Shinde on Friday met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis with a proposal to build a Metro railway line connecting Taloja, Dombivli and Kalyan. Accepting the proposal in-principle, the chief minister has directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which Fadnavis heads, to prepare a detailed project report on it, said Shrikant Shinde, who represents the Kalyan constituency. “This will be a 24-kilometre line connecting Taloja, Shilphata, Dombivli and Kalyan. The MMRDA has planned a Metro line till Thane, but beyond that, connectivity to areas like Diva, Mumbra, Ambernath, Dombivli and Kalyan is extremely poor. With the proposed Metro line, residents can travel to Thane as well as Navi Mumbai easily,” Shinde said.