'Nana' And 'Tatya' Begin Work On Creating Underground Tunnels For Kanpur Metro

The construction work of an approximately 4-km long tunnel for the underground section of the 23-km-long Corridor-1 of Kanpur Metro Rail Project began on Monday.

It is for the first time that the city will witness tunnel excavation work at a depth of 17.5 metre below the ground. The construction started after a traditional ceremony at the construction site in the presence of MD of Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation (UPMRC) and contracting agency.

The tunneling of Chunniganj-Nayaganj underground section is to be done with the help of two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM). The Uttar Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation has named the TBM machines as ‘Nana’ and ‘Tatya’ (named after Tatya Tope and Nana Saheb Peshwa who participated in the First War of Independence in 1857.).

TBMs

A tunnel boring machine (TBM) also known as a “mole“, is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They can bore through hard rock, sand, and almost anything in between. Tunnel diameters can range from a metre (done with micro-TBMs) to almost 16 metres to date.

TBMs are the most efficient and safest instruments for constructing underground tunnels in the heart of the city with complete safety without affecting the traffic on the roads. They are noticeable for their ability to simultaneously excavate and erect tunnel ring segments during excavation to support the same.

World class and state-of-the-art TBMs have been employed for the construction of underground sections in Kanpur Metro. The total length of Tunnel Boring Machines used in this underground section of Kanpur Metro is about 80 meters and their weight is about 450 tonnes. With the help of these machines, tunnel of 5.8 meter diameter will be constructed.

These TBM can construct upto 10 metres of tunnel in a span of 24 hours. The 940-metre stretch between Chunniganj-Nayaganj is expected to be erected in 100-110 days.

Sequence

Both TBM machines have already been lowered inside a rectangular launching shaft which has a length of about 21meters, width of 24 meters and a depth of about 17.5 meters.

From Monday, construction of down-line tunnel from Bada Chauraha to Nayaganj with the help of TBM named "Nana" will begin and after about 15 days, construction of up-line tunnel will be started with the second TBM.

Constructing a tunnel of about 940 meters long from Bada Chauraha towards Nayaganj, the TBM will reach at the starting point of Nayaganj Metro station, where the machine will be retrieved from the retrieval shaft. Thereafter, both the machines will be re-launched from the launching shaft to be built at Chunniganj and tunnel will be constructed till the starting point of Bada Chauraha Metro Station via Naveen Market.

Kanpur Metro project

Kanpur is an industrial city in Uttar Pradesh, located on the banks of the Ganga river. The city is well-known for its industries, particularly leather and woollens. Kanpur is also well-known for its role in the country’s freedom struggle. The present population of Kanpur is about 51 lakh which is expected to go up to 65 lakh by 2041.

Due to large scale development in the Kanpur city, there has been large expansion in the number of vehicles there. A need has been felt for a long time to develop and implement a fast moving barrier free public transport system. In view of this, the Centre and the State Government decided to implement a world-class Kanpur Metro Rail project.

Kanpur Metro Rail Project comprises 2 corridors. First corridor from ‘IIT Kanpur to Naubasta’ is 23.8 km long while the second corridor from ‘Chandrasekhar Azad Agriculture University to Barra-8’ is 8.6 km long. Both the corridors are to be completed by 2024.

Corridor 1: IIT Kanpur – Naubasta

• Length: 23.8 km

• Type: Elevated (15.2 km) & Underground (8.6 km)

• Number of Stations: 21 (14 elevated & 7 underground)

• Completion cost : ₹ 11076.48 Cr

• Status: Partially Operational (9 km) - The 9 km long priority section of Corridor-1 of the project from IIT Kanpur to Motijheel (9 elevated stations) was inaugurated by the Prime minister on 28 Dec 2021. The stations on the priority stretch include IIT Kanpur, Kalyanpur Railway Station, SPM Hospital, CSJM University, Gurudev Chauraha, Geeta Nagar, Rawatpur Railway Station, Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital and Moti Jheel.

Corridor 2: Chandrasekhar Azad Agriculture University to Barra-8

· Length: 8.6 km

• Type: Elevated (4.2 km) & Underground (4.4 km)

• Number of Stations: 8 (4 elevated & 4 underground)

• Status: Under Tender stage