Title - Tunnel-boring machines lie unused as Northern Railway still to give nod

NEW DELHI: Even as Delhi Metro completes the tunnelling work from Central Secretariat to Janpath for the Central Secretariat to Kashmere Gate corridor, its tunnel-boring machines (TBM) are lying idle for the past three months at Mandi House. The reason: DMRC has not yet got the clearance for tunnelling under Tilak Bridge from Northern Railway. The tunnel is to go from Mandi House to ITO, and move onto Delhi Gate, Jama Masjid, Red Fort and Kashmere Gate. Officials say tunnelling can't start till clearance is obtained. The obstacle is the distance between the tunnel for the Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate corridor and Tilak Bridge. A minimum 15m clearance is required from the top of the tunnel to the ground level. Metro had asked Northern Railway for special permission for the tunnel as the 15m is cleared between the underside of Tilak Bridge and the tunnel - and not the ground level, which is 13m high from the tunnel. The delay is likely to impact Delhi Metro's internal deadlines, admitted officials. The Central Secretariat-Mandi House corridor is scheduled to become operational from next March. The rest of the line will be impacted if the tunnelling between Mandi House and ITO is not completed soon. The Central Secretariat-Kashmere Gate corridor is scheduled to start by 2015. The principal approval from Northern Railway was obtained in 2011 with Delhi Metro depositing Rs 1.25 crore as part of the pact. The commissioner for metro rail safety CMRS also gave permission for the tunnel for the new corridor to go under the existing Delhi Metro corridor at Tilak Marg, where the Blue line (Dwarka-Noida) emerges from underground and moves to the elevated section through the ramp. The Northern Railway chief spokesperson said, "The safety review of the project that DMRC presented was not entirely to our liking. We have sought certain clarifications on it."