On Tuesday, officials told the media that Afcons, the construction company, is expecting to complete the construction work of the longest twin-tunnel on the Mumbai-Nagpur expressway by September end. On Tuesday, the third breakthrough on the right-hand side tunnel was completed, three months before schedule by teams of Afcons Infrastructure Ltd on Package 14 of the Greenfield project of Mumbai-Nagpur Super Communication Expressway. Sekhar Das, Afcons Project Manager, told the media that this breakthrough makes the north portal connectivity to the south portal direct and seamless through the right-hand side tunnel. They aim to complete the final breakthrough by September-end and complete both the tubes. Five weeks after the Shapoorji Pallonji Group firm achieved a breakthrough on June 29 on the 7.78 km long tunnel and 35 metres wide (17.50 metres in each tube) developing between Vashala (Thane) and Igatpuri (Nashik) in a hilly forested area, the development comes. This tunnel is a part of the 13.10 km long Package 14 managed by Afcons for the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on what officials say is the fastest moving package on the expressway. The 701 km-long east-west expressway connecting the state capital Mumbai with its second capital Nagpur, is likely to be partially functional by September 2021 and fully developed by May 2022, decreasing the travel time between the two cities from the existing 16 hours to just 8 hours. According to Das, the longest tunnel, the Afcons package has two small viaducts - of 900 metres and 1.20 km - which would allow passage to the wild animals in the forested area where the expressway will not be fenced. The expressway, being made at a total price of approximately Rs 55,000 crore, will have two other smaller tunnels - 1.10 km and 300 metres long beside a vertical shaft and one inclined shaft to give ventilation to the two tubes. Das told the media that the entire tunnel for which work began in September 2019, was dug up using the drilling-blasting process, at an average speed of more than 200 metres for nine months and attaining the highest speed of 258.40 metres at one point despite huge Covid-19 restrictions, heavy rains and other challenges. Additionally, he said that a major portion of the Afcons package includes tunnel works, and till now, 98% of tunnelling has been completed, with just 250-metres left on the left-hand side tunnel targeted for completion by September end. The Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway will zip through 10 districts - Nashik, Aurangabad, Thane, Washim, Jalna, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Wardha, Amravati and Nagpur, besides providing connectivity at strategic points to another 24 districts of the state's total 36 districts. Image Source Also read: Thane-Borivali tunnel works to begin from March 2022