Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) Managing Director and senior IAS officer Ashwini Bhide has said that tunnelling is emerging as the most practical and efficient solution for expanding Mumbai’s transport network. She made the remarks during an interview on the YouTube podcast Powertrain by Aakash Bhavsar.
Bhide said Mumbai’s island geography and limited land width leave little scope for surface or road-level expansion. The city’s narrow stretch, dense build-up and peninsular zones make underground alignments more viable than elevated corridors. She noted that elevated networks face challenges such as rigid road alignments, existing structures and the impact of pillars on congested areas. In heritage precincts, especially in South Mumbai, elevated structures can also alter the visual landscape.
She said confidence in underground construction improved significantly after Mumbai Metro Line 3, where over 55 km of tunnelling was completed for the 33.5 km corridor. The successful execution, she said, addressed earlier concerns about tunnelling in a coastal city.
Citing examples, Bhide said the Coastal Road project’s twin tunnels under Malabar Hill shortened the travel distance between Haji Ali and Marine Drive. She also referenced the upcoming Thane–Borivali tunnel, which will reduce the travel distance to about 5–6 km by bypassing multiple surface-level constraints.
According to her, tunnelling enables planners to select the most efficient route without the limitations imposed by surface structures. She also called tunnel boring machines one of the safest and most efficient technologies, noting that only launching and retrieval shafts are required before work progresses smoothly underground.
Source: The Free Press Journal
