Thane-Borivali twin road tunnel project gains traction

The Thane-Borivali twin road tunnel project has acquired some traction, and the Thane Municipal Corporation plans to de-reserve nearly 34 hectares of the proposed project land in its ambit in future. According to a survey, about 8.4 hectares in the Majiwada-Manpada administrative area was required for accessing Thane-Borivali road, while another 25.6 hectares was needed for the underground tunnel link. The Thane general body has also received a proposal for changing the current reservation on the land. Several stretches in Borivali have been reserved for botanical parks and zoological parks, transport depot and road development plans. Some residential plots and green zones are also present on the stretch, which needs alteration to suit the project. A study for the entry and exit points of the six-lane highway was conducted a few months ago by various agencies, including Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and recently, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has received the project. Officials said that they are working to ensure minimum disturbance to the residential and green zones on the land. According to the initial plans, the highway and its 11 km long tunnel would connect Thane and Borivali near Magathane BEST depot, decreasing the travel time. The Thane-Borivali twin tunnels will be drilled under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park by tunnel boring machines. Each tunnel will have three lanes for vehicles and one for pedestrians. The overall cost of the project is estimated at Rs 10,000 crore. Image Source Also read: Thane-Borivali tunnel works to begin from March 2022