Metro work: Tunnel boring machine lowered at Cantonment station

A month after resuming the work on the 13.9 km underground metro line from Shivajinagar, the second tunnel boring machine (TBM) has been lowered at Cantonment station, the BMRCL said.

The machine's middle and front shields were lowered by a giant crane on Thursday. After they are assembled along with the cutter head, the machine will start digging through the ground.

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials said they are trying to speed up the pending work to ensure minimum cost escalation caused by delaying of the project due to the lockdown.

The 13.9 km tunnel section, part of the 21 km Gottigere-Nagawara line, had faced delays during the tender process over the past two years. The work was finally awarded in the first quarter of 2019.

The Larsen and Toubro Limited has bagged two of the four packages: Shivajinagar-Tannery Road and Vellara Junction-Shivajinagar, which have come with a deadline of 42 months to complete the work.