Helen reaches Vidhana Soudha

The Namma Metro tunnel boring work, which began at the Central College end in May this year, reached Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday.

The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM-1) Helen achieved the breakthrough at the Vidhana Soudha station at 11.55 am after covering a distance of 724.5 mts (483 rings). The tunnel is part of the Phase 1 corridor of the Namma Metro between Majestic and Baiyyappanahalli. TBM-2, Margarita, is also progressing and it is 20 metres away from the breakthrough point.

The BMRCL MD N Sivasailam said the tunneling along the stretch encountered hard rocks of
300 mega pascal (MPA) throughout with a very short stretch of sandy silt.
“The breakthrough was accurate,” he said.

Despite the High Court order, shifting of Ambedkar statue from the Vidhana Soudha premises is yet to begin. However, the Metro officials are unperturbed over the delay. “We know shifting of the statue would fasten the work. But we don’t want to keep waiting till then. TBM Helen will be reassembled soon and the tunneling will begin from Vidhana Soudha station towards Cubbon Park station. We have to bore two tunnels of length 500 meters in that stretch,” said a senior official from BMRCL.

The Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar witnessed the breakthrough ceremony and congratulated the Metro officials for the good work.