The National High Speed Rail Corridor Limited (NHSRCL) is gearing up to begin the preliminary work on the Vikhroli land as the Supreme Court cleared the last hurdle in Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project.
An official from NHSRCL was quoted saying that they are aiming to begin initial work in the next two months and meanwhile they will place order for tunnel boring machines, a report from Hindustan Times stated.
The NHSRCL may take up work to clear the 3.92 hectares at Vikhroli, barricade boundaries and drill 21-km-long tunnel between Bandra-Kurla Complex and Thane which will reportedly cost around Rs 10,000 crore.
Reportedly, the depth of this tunnel will vary from 25 meters to 65 metres and will be 45 metres deep below Thane creek and the stretch will be 7-km-long. The tunnel will be deepest under Parsik Hill at 114 metres.
The official was further quoted saying that NHSRCL will be digging from both ends for which shafts will be created at BKC, Vikhroli and Sawli in Ghansoli. Officials said the approximate cost per km of the tunnel is around Rs 500 crore.
Reportedly, NHSRCL had acquired 99.75% of land in Maharashtra while total land acquired for 508-km-long corridor stood at 99.17%.
Tenders for technical works have been opened and NHSRCL is expected to open tenders for civic works including making maintenance depots in Thane, Virar and Boisar by March 29. The officials were also cited saying that works for Thane depot between Shilphata and Zaroli on the Gujarat Maharashtra border will be opened by March as well.
Supreme Court green signals land acquisition
Godrej and Boyce had challenged land acquisition initiated by Maharashtra government and the compensation for the same. After the Bombay High Court, on February 9, ruling upholding the land acquisition, they approached Supreme Court.
The apex court also ruled in favour of the government and told Godrej that they can negotiate the compensation value.
