Mumbai to soon get India’s first-ever twin undersea tunnels

If all goes as planned, undersea twin tunnels in South Mumbai are all set to open soon. It’s part of the INR 12,721 crore Mumbai Coastal Road Project, which is nearing completion. Reports have it that the tunnels will open by November 2023, which will mark India's first undersea tunnel.

More than two years after a giant Chinese Tunnel Boring Machine began cutting though complex geological strata, India’s first undersea twin tunnels in south Mumbai are close to completion.Reportedly, the tunnels will open in November, and will start near Girgaon (ahead of Marine Drive), extend north under the Arabian Sea, Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill, and end at Breach Candy’s Priyadarshini Park. The 2.07 km tunnels are a part of the INR 12,721 crore Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) being built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The 10.58 km Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) connects Marine Drive to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, and reports suggest that during the peak hours, the high-speed coastal road is expected to reduce the 45-minute commute from Girgaon to Worli to just 10 minutes.

The tunnels, with a diameter of 12.19 m, will be stretching 17-20 m below sea level and will feature six crosswalks, four for pedestrians, and two for motorists, and each tunnel will have three 3.2-meter-wide channels. The deepest point of the tunnels reach at 72 m near Malabar Hill.
Reports add that the boring work began in January 2021, while the TBM assembly and launch began a year ago.