Latest news with #GoregaonMulundLinkRoad
Indian Express
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Indian Express
54 containers carrying parts for Goregaon Mulund Link Road arrive from Japan
The ambitious Rs 6,500 crore Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is set to witness a key threshold as at least 54 trailers comprising parts of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which will bore the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project's twin tunnels, have arrived from Japan into Mumbai. With the final consignment of the first TBM slated to arrive by next month the work on the tunnel with a diameter of 14.5 metre will begin. GMLR's twin TBM tunnels will be amongst the widest road tunnel projects undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Pegged at a cost of nearly Rs. 6500 crore, the GMLR is an ambitious project which aims to alleviate congestion by linking Goregaon in the western suburbs to Mulund in the eastern suburbs. A crucial part of the GMLR project are the 6.65-km long twin tunnels which will start from Film City in the western suburbs and open near Mulund's Amar Junction, which currently houses a huge slum pocket. The GMLR tunnels will surpass the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), covering a complex topography of hillocks, forest and farmlands. The twin tunnels will be built using two TBM machines, which will commence boring from the launching shaft in Film City. Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) confirmed with The Indian Express that trailers containing parts of the first TBM machine started arriving from Japan in late March, this year. 'A total of 77 containers carrying parts of the first TBM machine will be arriving in the city. We received the first consignment on March 25. As many as 54 containers have already arrived and the balance of 23 containers will be received in the coming month,' said Bangar. According to officials, the remaining parts of the TBM machine are expected to arrive by August 15. Arriving from Japan, the containers are being unloaded at the JNPT port from where the consignments are being ferried in trailers up to the worksite. The parts of the first TBM will be assembled over a period of four months, after all the containers are received. Gearing up for the process, the civic body is currently undertaking piling works at the Goregaon work site at the launch shaft where the TBM tunnels will be lowered. Meanwhile, the consignments on the second TBM machine is slated to arrive in the city from December 2025. Raking beneath the SNGP, the TBMs are slated to dig a 5.30-kilometre tunnel before finally achieving its breakthrough at Mulund's Amar Nagar Junction, where the other end of the tunnel is proposed to open. Of the total 6.65-km tunnel length, nearly 1.35 km will be made up the approach roads and the box-tunnel, while nearly 5.30 km will comprise the portion dug by the tunnel boring machine.
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- General
- Indian Express
GMLR twin tunnel: Centre grants final nod for diversion of SGNP forest land to BMC
Over a year since procuring the in-principle (Stage I) approval, Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) on Tuesday granted the final approval for diversion of 19.43 hectares of forest land at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The clearance has now paved the way for the construction of the twin tunnels, which is being developed within the ambit of the ambitious Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project. Pegged at a cost of nearly Rs 6500, the GMRL is an ambitious project which aims to alleviate congestion by linking Goregaon in the western suburbs to Mulund in the eastern suburbs. A crucial part of the GMLR project are the 6.65-km long twin tunnels which will start from the Film City in the western suburbs and open near Mulund's Amar Junction, which currently houses a huge slum pocket. The GMLR tunnels will surpass beneath the SGNP, covering a complex topography of hillocks, forest and farmlands. With the project slated to be constructed through the protected forest lands of SGNP, the state government had sought the Union ministry's approval. Earlier on January 2, 2024, the MOEFCC granted the in-principle clearances for the proposal after examination. On Tuesday, the Union ministry granted the final approval for the diversion of 19.43 hectares of reserves forest area to the BMC under the section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980. Stage I (in-principle) approval from the central government is the first step towards diverting forest land for non-forest purposes, followed by Stage II clearances. Officials maintained that even as the land parcel has been transferred to the civic body, it continues to hold the legal status of forest land. With the tunnel raking under the SGNP — at a depth of 20 to 160 metres — no trees are expected to be impacted during the course of the project construction. Meanwhile, the civic body has prepared an alternative afforestation plan as per the Forest Act. For the total forest land acquired, over 19.5 hectares of non-forest area in Chandrapur district will undergo plantation and maintenance. Being tucked in an ecologically sensitive zone, the GMLR project has also undergone a slew of studies ranging including Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), environmental, biological studies by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) etc. as well as engineering, geotechnical studies. Since the tunnel is aligned between the Tulsi and Vehar lakes, the project has also undergone hydrological studies. Upon completion, the GMLR project is projected to be estimated to reduce the travel time between the eastern and western suburbs from 75 minutes to 25 minutes. The project is estimated to be completed by October 2028.
