Daylight process of Mumbai’s first tunnel that is part of the Anik-Panjrapol Link Road (APLR) will be completed by the end of this month. Daylight is the last part of rock excavation to construct a tunnel.
“Work is underway for the twin tunnel of APLR, which will be connected with Eastern Freeway.
As per the progress, we should be able to see daylight by the end of this month,” said an official from MMRDA. Only 40 metre of rock excavation work is left in the 500-metre long tunnel.
Once the rocks are excavated, the tunnel is expected to be ready by October end. “As the rocks of this tunnel are weaker and might not hold, we have to support it with concrete lining,” added the official.
After the Eastern Freeway mishap that happened last month, the deadline of the project has been extended by two weeks to mid-January.
The entire stretch from Orange Gate in south Mumbai to Panjrapol in Ghatkopar will be thrown open for traffic in the coming year.
The four-lane road will be toll-free for motorists. The cost of constructing APLR is `221 crore, however sources indicate that there has been a cost escalation. Around 5,000 people had to be rehabilitated and resettled to facilitate the APLR project.
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Police Custody extended for Bimal Agarwal
Age correspondent
Mumbai, Aug. 17
The Metropolitan Magistrate court on Friday extended the police custody of Bimal Agarwal, an accused in the Bomb Blast Suit scam (BBSS) case to August 24.
The police custody was extended as the prosecution in her arguments stated that in the last four days of police custody, the agency has recovered substantial evidence against the accused and the agency needs to unearth more details in the case.
Special public prosecutor, Advocate Kiran Bendbhar who argued on behalf of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW), said, “The accused has cheated the state for a sum of `6,21,69,120. The EOW has initiated with the investigations in the case. They have freezed the bank accounts of the accused. They have also seized some vital documents from the office of Agarwal. The agency needs to further investigate the matter in detail and so an extension is needed.”
The EOW in their remand application stated that the accused person was thoroughly interrogated for his alleged role in the BBSS case.