It has been a week since Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched the Tunnel Boring Machine – Mavala – to be used for digging two tunnels for the Coastal Road project, but till now the 2,275-metric tonne machine has only managed to bore up to nine metres. However, BMC officials are of the opinion that the speed of the machine will gradually increase and that work on one tunnel will be completed by October this year. 

Further, officials said that the tunnel boring work would generate four lakh cubic metres of muck, 70 per cent of which would be used for construction of the road. 
Meanwhile, sources said that the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) had asked the central government to approve 21 hectares of land for reclamation and if the NOC comes in time, then reclamation of a total of 111 hectares would be completed by April.   
 
Vijay Nigot, chief engineer of the Coastal Road project, said, “We have completed about 75 hectares of reclamation so far, and if we receive the Centre’s NOC in time, we may be able to finish the reclamation work by April.” But in case the approval is delayed for some reason, then the BMC would complete 90 hectares of reclamation according to the approved plans and designs of the project.