The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which has invited Yeddyurappa for launching the work, is waiting for an official confirmation from the chief minister’s office.
Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa is likely to flag off the tunnel boring work on the 4.8km-long underground section of the East-West corridor of Namma Metro at Majestic on May 20. The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which has invited Yeddyurappa for launching the work, is waiting for an official confirmation from the chief minister’s office.
Two tunnel boring machines (TBM) had arrived in the city in the first week of April in a completely knocked down stage in five containers from the Chennai port. The TBMs were shipped from Japan. One TBM has been assembled and lowered up to 18m at the Kempe Gowda Bus Terminus in Majestic, where about 47,500 cubic metres of earth has been excavated already. Part of the assembly will be done above ground and the rest underground.
The second TBM, which is being assembled in Majestic, will be on standby. Each TBM is capable of drilling through 11m of earth every day.
Bharath Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) are involved in assembling the delicate and huge parts of each TBM shaft.
The tunnel will be dug at a depth of 25m to 30m below the surface of the earth. Encountering layers of granite rocks is common at such levels and the TBM shafts will have to drill through such layers at a slow pace.
Tunnel drilling work will begin from Majestic, go up to the proposed station at the City Civil Court, turn towards KR Circle, move in front of Vidhana Soudha and then turn towards the Minsk Square. Four underground stations will come up on the stretch at Majestic, Central College Campus, Vidhana Soudha and Minsk Square.
The tunnel will be drilled mostly along with the surface roads but with some curves towards the approaching underground stations, BMRCL officials told DNA.
The elevated tracks of Namma Metro will go underground at M Chinnaswamy stadium in front of BRV Junction. BMRCL said that work on the ramp and the base slab at this spot has been completed. The excavation work is under way both in front of Vidhana Soudha and Central College campus. At Minsk Square, the BMRCL has completed steel decking of the surface which is why the drilling work is expected to be easy.
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