Work on the twin tunnels of the ambitious Rs 6.5 billion Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project is set to commence next month. Several trailers carrying components of the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) intended for excavating the tunnels have arrived in Mumbai from Japan. The final shipment of the first TBM parts is expected next month, paving the way for construction to begin.

Phase 3(B) of the GMLR project will develop a 6.65-kilometre corridor, including a 1.22-kilometre triple-lane box tunnel at Film City and twin tunnels beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).

The tunnels will start at Film City in Goregaon East and emerge at Amar Junction in Mulund, currently a densely populated slum area. Of the total length, 5.30 km will be excavated using TBMs, while the remaining 1.35 km will comprise approach roads and the box tunnel.

The twin tunnels will run at depths ranging from 20 to 160 metres below ground and feature cross-passages every 300 metres. Designed to pass beneath the ecologically sensitive and topographically complex terrain of SGNP—including hillocks, forest areas, and farmlands—the tunnels will be excavated using two TBMs, both launched from Film City.

Senior civic officials noted that 54 containers carrying parts of the first TBM have already been delivered, with the remaining 23 expected by 15 August. The equipment, shipped from Japan, is being unloaded at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) and transported to the site by trailers. Once all containers arrive, assembly of the TBM will take four months in preparation for tunnelling. The second TBM is expected in Mumbai by the end of December.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) recently received approval from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to divert 19.43 hectares of forest land for tunnel construction.