Urja does the magic as underground tunnel work from Cantonment to Shivajinagar completed

Bengaluru: In a major breakthrough for Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL), the 855-metre underground tunnel work from Cantonment to Shivajinagar Metro Station was completed on Wednesday morning.

As the head of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) 'Urja' emerged at Shivajinagar underground metro station on the Pink Line after covering a distance of 855 metres, ecstatic metro workers, who have been part of the tunnel work for over a year, burst into cheers.

The tunnel is part of the new line (Line-6) from Gottigere to Nagawara for a length of 21.26 km and consists of 7.5 km of elevated corridor with six stations and a 13.76-km underground corridor (from the south ramp near Jayanagar Fire Station to the north ramp at Nagawara) with 12 stations.

The tunnelling work was kick-started by former Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa on July 30 last year. Urja started laying the first tunnel ring on August 8. After finishing 855 metres of tunnelling the breakthrough happened at the North end of Shivajinagar on Wednesday.

Being under one of the oldest settlements of Bengaluru, this was a challenging feat for the BMRCL. Using the most advanced PLC-based technology and skilled manpower, the tunnelling was completed at the predetermined location.

The TBM will be disassembled and transported to the North End of Cantonment Station to commission a tunnel between Cantonment and Pottery Town Station.

Speaking at the event, Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai who came along with his cabinet colleagues to witness the achievement, said, "After the completion of the second phase, 56 km of metro network will be available to the public. After the completion of the third phase of metro construction, Bangalore Metro will become the lifeline of the city.

"I have also asked metro authorities to speed up the work and revise the previous deadline of 2025 and complete it a year earlier by 2024," he added. He also said that there are plans to construct a metro line connecting the Bangalore Aiport and the city.

Bengaluru Metro MD, Anjum Parvez said, "There were a lot of challenges involved in tunnelling but on an average 3.5 km was covered daily." He added that the success of the work has been due to the cooperation of the people despite various issues due to the tunnelling. He recalled the hearty cooperation extended by the people though slurry water entered residential houses during tunnel work.

Talking about the Airport line, he said that work just started and tender would be finalised by October.

Anjum Parwez told mediapersons that Vindhya, another TBM working on a parallel tunnel, will emerge at Shivajinagar in 20 days. Vindhya has already drilled a distance of 693 metres.