The Coastal Road project is nearly 50 per cent complete, which will run almost 10 km from Marine Drive to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The most challenging part of the over Rs 12,000 crore project starts at the northern fringe of the Queen’s Necklace. By 15 January 2022, boring for one of the twin tunnels by the tunnel boring machine (TBM) that was lowered almost two years ago at the work site near Priyadarshini Park is slated to be completed. The machine will break ground near Girgaum Chowpatty. At a diameter of 12.2 m, the TBM is the biggest to be used so far in the city for any project, including construction of the Metro rail. Also, the southernmost component of the Chowpatty to Priyadarshini Park twin tunnel, which will largely be under Malabar Hill, is the first such under-sea project to be executed in the country, as per reports.
As much as 47 per cent of the project’s work has been completed, including reclamations, which were undertaken at Chowpatty, Napean Sea Road, Bhulabhai Desai Road (Breach Candy), Haji Ali and Worli. Of the needed reclamation of 111 ha, only two or three hectares are left. The date of launch of the TBM from the Chowpatty end for the parallel tunnel is yet to be finalised.
BMC has targeted 2022-end for completion of the boring. When BMC began work in 2018, with a 48 month deadline for completing the project, now delayed by a year owing to the pandemic and also litigation. The project is now expected to be completed by the end of 2023, add reports.