A breakthrough was achieved by a tunnel boring machine on the line three of Mumbai metro on Monday. The breakthrough happened near the T2 terminal of the Mumbai airport.

In civil engineering parlance, a breakthrough is defined when a tunnel boring machine(TBM) when lowered in a particular shafts manages to bore through the defined geological route and emerges successfully at a designated end.

Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation believes that the line with 26 underground stations will be operational by 2021.

Wainganga 1, the TBM was commissioned on 8 January 2018 from Pali ground at Marol and it has completed its tunnel drive of 1.26-km has emerged T2 terminus. It marks an milestone in the construction of the 33.5-km long Metro-3 corridor.

Managing Director of Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, Ashwini Bhide said this TBM will cover 4 km and will connect major business areas such as MIDC and SEEPZ in suburban Andheri area. On the whole line, 14 machines are working now and three more TBMs will be added soon.

The tunnelling work for the full line will be completed in the next 18 months. Till date, 9 km of tunnels have been created. Out of 26 underground stations, work on 25 stations, excluding Kalbadevi, is under way. For Kalbadevi station, about 60 per cent land has been acquired, she said.

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