Pune : Policenama online– The first metro railway tunnel being made from the Agriculture College reached the proposed underground station at Budhwar Peth on Thursday. The second tunnel being dug from the Swargate side is likely to reach Mandai soon.
The Swargate-Shivajinagar stretch of the metro railway is underground. The stretch has five underground stations, namely – Shivajinagar ST bus stand, Civil Court, Budhwar Peth, Mahatma Phule Mandai and Swargate. Two tunnels each are being dug from the Agriculture College and Swargate sides. The tunnels are being made with hi-tech tunnel boring machines (TBMs). The machine also fixes cement plates on the tunnel walls and a tube is created. A tube has been made from the Agriculture College to the proposed underground station at Budhwar Peth.
The tunnel work started from Swargate will soon reach Mandai. The tunnel work from the Agriculture College will also reach from Budhwar Peth till Mandai. A continuous Shivajinagar-Swargate underground track of the metro railway will be ready once all four tunnels reach Mandai. Work on the five underground metro stations is also progressing.
Pune is the fourth city in India to have an underground metro railway route crossing under a river (Mutha river). The other three cities are Mumbai (Mithi river), Kolkata (Hugli river), and Chennai (Kum and Adyar rivers).
The tunnel passing underneath the Mutha river is 33 metre deep. The tunnel is 10 metre from the bottom of the river bed. The completion of tunnel boring till Budhwar Peth marks a major stage of the project. MahaMetro technical advisor Shashikant Limaye was present at the site.
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