BMC revives multi-modal tunnel project, to cost Rs 4,392 crore

Indian Express

14 hours ago

Over a year since the plan was mooted, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has revived its ambitious multi-modal tunnel connectivity project which is estimated to cost a whopping Rs 4,392 crore. Eyeing to prepare a layout for the project, the civic body has floated afresh a tender, inviting consultants to prepare a feasibility report and master plan for a tunnel network across the region.
Aimed at decongesting the city's traffic as well as boosting connectivity across Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the 'multi-modal' plan seeks to introduce a new layer of transport network in the MMR in the way of a network of tunnels. It was in October 2023 that the Maharashtra government had formed an eight-member committee to chalk out the master plan for this smart tunnel network to ease connectivity in the region, taking into consideration the MMR's growth in the next 30 years.
Earlier in February 2024, the civic body had first floated tenders to rope in consultants to chalk out a master plan to implement the project. However, the tender drew feeble responses from the bidders while the process also faced lags owing to technical challenges.
Bringing the project back on the drawing the board, the civic body this month floated a fresh tender to appoint a project management consultant to conduct a feasibility study, prepare a master plan project report, overlook the bidding process as well as carry out supervision during the course of the construction.
As per initial estimates, the project is slated to cost the civic body Rs 4,392 crore, with each six-km tunnel proposed to cost Rs 732 crore.
According to officials from the BMC, the consultants will be tasked with conducting traffic studies, gauging the feasibility studies as well as preparing a design for the layout of tunnel network. 'The project is aimed at creating a significant master plan for connectivity in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In the past one year, the process has been prolonged owing to some technical lags as well as the term clauses. Now, in the fresh tender, we have called for consultants who can carry out the analysis of high traffic area, check feasibility, finalise the locations as well as prepare designs for the tunnel network,' said a civic official.
Considering the scale of the project, the civic body has said that only consultants who have had experiences of working of projects valued at least Rs 5,000 crore and having developed either an eight-km long tunnel or two five-km long tunnels with a minimum width of five metres over the past ten years will be eligible for the bidding. Furthermore, the consultant will also be required to have experience of working with tunnel boring machine (TBM) technology and on the twin decker design.
Despite the revival, sources in BMC alluded that the project has remained on the backburner owing to concerns of increased vehicular congestion. 'Currently, the city is already witnessing a large number of big-ticket projects ranging from GMLR, Madh-Versova project, second phase of coastal road among others. With so many projects underway, there have been some concerns over the practicality of the traffic studies now and the possibility of increased traffic woes,' said a source.