The boring of the first-ever tunnel in Mumbai for the underground metro project has begun at the Naya Nagar site in Mahim. Naya Nagar is one of the seven ?launching shafts? from where tunnelling operations will be conducted. The others are at Cuffe Parade, Azad Maidan, Worli, Kalina, Sahar Road and Marol Naka. Azad Maidan is the next site where tunnelling work will start, according to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).

While 17 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be deployed to construct the two 33.5-km long tunnels, five TBMs have arrived in the city. By November-end, all five machines will be operational, according to MMRC. Another set of seven machines has completed factory acceptance test and are in various stages of transit. The factory acceptance for the remaining five will be done in the next two months.