New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Delhi Metro has nearly completed tunnelling work on its Phase II with its massive boring machine poised to finish the tough job at a south Delhi site, a Metro official said Monday.
“The Delhi Metro erected the last pre-cast segments of the underground stretch of Phase II. The tunnel boring machine (TBM) is now poised for the final breakthrough of Phase II,” Delhi Metro Rail Corporation spokesperson Anuj Dayal told reporters here.

The tunnelling was going on for the Metro’s Central Secretariat-Badarpur line, slated for a September 2010 opening, for a half-kilometre distance between Jangpura and Lajpat Nagar.

The breakthrough on the tough incline on the partially underground and elevated corridor is likely to be completed by Tuesday using the TBM.

About 28 percent of Delhi Metro’s 125-km Phase-II is underground.

“Work involving the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) is already over and only small cut-and-cover portions remain which are expected to be completed in two months,” Dayal added.

He said that “the tunnelling has been accident free despite the magnitude of work and tight schedule”.

DMRC has used 14 TBMs for the construction of Phase II, the highest in any South Asian city at one time. Around 30 tunnelling drives were carried out on three corridors, namely the Central Secretariat-Qutub Minar, Airport Express Line and Central Secretariat-Badarpur.