Navi Mumbai: As part of Cidco’s effort to augment the Hetawane dam water supply mechanism to Navi Mumbai, a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) breakthrough was achieved at the Cidco Treated Water Tunnel (TWT) Package II project with Patel Engineering setting a national tunnelling record by completing 812.466 metres of excavation in a single month in January, using a 3.2m diameter TBM.The tunnelling drive was completed over four months ahead of schedule and recorded over one million safe man-hours with zero safety incidents with the TBM cutterhead emerging at the designated exit point at Sai village in Panvel, in the presence of Cidco officials. The tunnelling was executed using the 3.2m diameter TBM, Tiboti Khandya, manufactured by Terratec and named after the Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. The mechanised approach enabled high-precision excavation with enhanced safety and minimal surface disruption, making it suited to critical urban water infrastructure projects.The Cidco TWT project is a component of the agency’s long-term water security strategy and involves the design and construction of a 6.27km long treated water tunnel and allied works connecting Sai village to Vindhane village in Raigad district. Once commissioned, the Hetawane Water Supply Augmentation Scheme will nearly double Cidco’s water supply capacity from the current 150 million litres per day (MLD) to 270MLD by December 2029 to meet Navi Mumbai’s growing residential, commercial, and industrial demand.With the tunnelling phase complete, construction activities will progress to the next stages of project execution in line with Cidco’s infrastructure development roadmap.A Cidco official said, “The successful completion of the tunnelling drive and the TBM breakthrough is a critical milestone for the TWT project. Such achievements strengthen Cidco’s efforts to build robust and future-ready water infrastructure that can support Navi Mumbai’s long-term growth while maintaining reliability and operational efficiency.”Commenting on the breakthrough, Kavita Shirvaikar, MD of Patel Engineering, said: “Today’s TBM breakthrough marks the successful closure of an exceptionally demanding tunnelling drive and validates the record productivity achieved by our teams earlier this year. Delivering this milestone required sustained precision, disciplined execution, and seamless coordination across engineering, operations, and safety functions. It reflects our ability to convert performance benchmarks into tangible on-ground outcomes.”
