CMRL’s tunnel boring machine from Panagal Park reaches Kodambakkam station after a year

The Panagal Park to Kodambakkam Power House Ramp stretch is a part of corridor 4, and the length of the tunnel is close to 2.1 km.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

A year after starting from T. Nagar, the tunnel boring machine (TBM) ‘Pelican’, which was engaged for Chennai Metro Rail’s Phase II Project, has reached the Kodambakkam Metro station. But it has been delayed and will only make a ‘breakthrough’ near Meenakshi College in June.

According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), the machine, which started tunnelling from Panagal Park in T. Nagar in January 2024, was scheduled to complete the work by December 2024. “The TBM has been delayed. The first one will leave the Kodambakkam Metro station and make a breakthrough near Meenakshi College in June. The second machine ‘Peacock’, which is about 150 m behind ‘Pelican’, will complete the work by July. We are taking efforts to expedite the tunnelling,” an official said.

As part of the ₹63,246-crore Phase II Project, CMRL is currently building three corridors across the city covering a distance of 118.9 km. The Panagal Park to Kodambakkam Power House Ramp stretch is a part of corridor 4 (Light House to Poonamallee via Kodambakkam) and the length of the tunnel is close to 2.1 km.

‘Pelican’ and ‘Peacock’ have tunnelled under the Usman Road flyover and are now gearing up to bore below the Kodambakkam suburban railway tracks. ‘Pelican’ machine will start tunnelling under the tracks in two weeks, sources said. CMRL will inform railway authorities before then and will intensify monitoring of the various instruments to prevent any settlement issues near the tracks. At Perambur, the speed of express trains alone had to be reduced marginally on the stretch where tunnelling was happening below the tracks. It is not yet clear if this will also be done in Kodambakkam as well.

During tunnelling between Panagal Park and Kodambakkam, there were a few instances of cracks appearing on some buildings. “But it was nothing major, and we always repaired the cracks immediately. Similarly, there was another incident, wherein foam came gushing out in a house,” a source said. Tunnelling along this stretch has not been very challenging so far since the TBMs had to drill through mixed soil and some rocky conditions.