BENGALURU: When a tunnel boring machine has to stop work, it is unimaginable that the reason could be heaps of garbage beneath the ground. However, that’s the reality. Rudra, the tunnel boring machine, carrying out work for the underground corridor from Kalena Agrahara-Nagawara Line for BMRCL, had only completed one leg of its tunnelling from the ramp near Jayadeva Fire station to Dairy Circle. After this, the ‘waste’ hurdle blocked the next leg from Dairy Circle to Bannerghatta Road.
BMRCL Managing Director Anjum Parwez confirmed that the machine has been out of action since July. “Earlier, there were stone quarries, and garbage was dumped as it was vacant 20 years ago. The waste comprises everything including animal bones.”
When the tunnelling was being done through the garbage mound, it caved in, creating sinkholes, forcing Rudra to stop work temporarily, another Metro official said. The TBM will itself facilitate removal of garbage. “After detailed discussions, we have decided on putting in place a concrete surface by using piling machines. When the concrete settles, tunnelling work can resume. It can take till mid-January 2023 for the concrete surface to be readied.
However, the TBM can begin operations as soon as a portion of the concrete is ready,” he said. The piling process will include taking land on rent from the neighbouring areas for three months, Parwez said, adding that the work halt will not affect the completion of the underground line as the other seven TBMs are working. “We will meet the December 2024 deadline for Reach-6,” he said.