HCC has completed
the tunneling work of
the 12.4-km long
Marol Maroshi-
Ruparel College tunnel,
yet another feather in the
cap of Hindustan Construction
Company. The
project was completed on
February 18, 2012. With
this, from September 2013
Mumbai will start getting
flawless water supply from
the new tunnel.
After a number of impediments
such as difficulty in
maintenance, security
issues because of the pipes
passing beneath the Mumbai
airport land, the Municipal
Corporation of Greater
Mumbai decided to construct
a tunnel from Marol
Maroshi up to Ruparel College.
HCC bagged the prestigious
project in September
2007 with a total contract
value of
415.10 crore.
Constructed under the
Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission,
the project is part of the
rehabilitation and
improvement of the drinking
water conveyance and
distribution system from
Bhandup Treatment Works
to Western Suburbs and
Southwest part of the
Mumbai city, which consists
of Vaitarana, Upper
Vaitarana, Bhandup,
Maroshi, Tansa (East) and
Tansa (West) main
pipelines. Bhandup-
Maroshi main pipeline
runs up to Maroshi only
and supplies water to the
Veravali Group of Reservoirs.
Other mains continue
to carry water to Dharavi,
Mahim and further.
The new tunnel will be
replacing the existing
Vaitarana, Tansa (East and
West) main pipelines. The
tunnel will have many
advantages over existing
surface pipeline. It is
secured at a depth of 70
meters below ground level
and cannot be tampered
as it happens in case of
surface pipelines. Hence
there are fewer chances of
leakages and pilferage of
water. It will require minimum
maintenance as the
entire tunnel is made of
concrete unlike surface
pipeline which corrode
over a period of time.
The 12.4 km tunnel will
be 3.60 meters in diameter
and will have three
new shafts at Maroshi,
Vakola and Mahim
besides the existing shaft
at Ruparel College. The
shafts are 12 meters in
diameters and around 70
to 80 meters deep which
is equivalent to 22 to 26
storied buildings.
On an average 20 meters
of tunnel was completed
in a single day with a
record of 40 meters tunneling
completed in a single
day with one Tunnel
Boring Machine (TBM).
When it comes to constructing
the water tunnels
underground, HCC is a
clear leader in Mumbai.
The company has constructed
so far 21 km of
existing 26 km water tunnels
that supply drinking
water to Mumbai and is
currently constructing 12
km of tunnels of the 23 km
of water. The Bhandup
Complex to Charkop tunnel
of 12 km length was the
last tunnel completed by
HCC. This tunnel was completed
5 months ahead of
schedule, despite difficult
geological conditions.