Mumbai: Panvel-Karjat rail project gets tunnel push

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The longest-ever 2.6 km tunnel on a new suburban local train corridor between Karjat-Panvel on Friday achieved a breakthrough this afternoon at 12.30 pm, expediting work on the new corridor. The deadline for the project is December 2025.

The game-changing Panvel-Karjat railway project is taking shape under Mumbai Urban Transport Project 3 (MUTP-3). A total of three tunnels (total: 3,164 m), i.e. Tunnel-1 (Nadhal tunnel) of 219 m, Tunnel-2 (Wavarle tunnel) of 2,625 m, and Tunnel-3 (Kirawali tunnel) of 320 m are under construction as part of this project.

"The project is being implemented by Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation. The tunnel deadline was mid-June and has achieved a breakthrough earlier," an official said. "The Wavarle tunnel meets contemporary international standards," MRVC Chairman and Managing director, Subhash Chand Gupta, said.

"During the excavation, significant challenges were encountered, including fractured rock masses with water seepage and minimal cover (as low as 12 metres). Two water streams cross the tunnel alignment at the low cover zone. Despite these challenges, an average underground excavation output of 175 metres per month was achieved through meticulous planning, with two rounds of blasting per day during the daytime as night-time blasting is not allowed," he added.