The work on Corridor-1 of the 32.4 km Kanpur Metro Rail Project has crossed a milestone with the tunnel boring machine (TBM) 'Nana' recording its first breakthrough in the Bada Chauraha to Phoolbagh-Nayaganj station stretch.

The TBM completed the first stage of its underground tunneling on the downline of the stretch with 1025 m tunnel construction executed in roughly five months. It had begun tunneling from Bada Chauraha on July 4 and arrived at Phoolbagh-Nayaganj Metro Station's retrieval shaft on December 6.

Till now, 'Nana' has erected about 733 rings and after the TBM is retrieved from the shaft, six more rings will be erected. Following this, the construction work on the 'downline' between Bada Chauraha-Nayaganj will be concluded. The machine has been nicknamed 'Nana', after the Maratha ruler and freedom fighter Nana Saheb Peshwa.

In the 'upline', the TBM named 'Tatya' (after Tatya Tope, the Indian general who led 1857 Rebellion) has facilitated construction of a tunnel up to approx 615 m so far.

The 'Nana' and 'Tatya' TBMs, launched in July this year, have been deployed for tunnelling work on the route between Bada Chauraha to Nayanganj station. Both the machines have been working efficiently and are slated to complete the work in the stipulated time.

Sushil Kumar, Managing Director of UPMRC stated, “To achieve the first breakthrough by Nana TBM is a very proud moment for us. TBMs 'Nana' and 'Tatya' are leading us to fulfill the dream of a world class metro system in Kanpur."

He continued, "The route between Chunniganj and Nayaganj is one of the busiest routes in the city. With the help of these state-of-the-art TBMs, we have been able to construct underground tunnels passing through the heart of the city with complete safety without affecting the traffic on the roads."

Civil construction work on the Kanpur Central-Transport Nagar underground section and Baradevi-Naubasta elevated section of Corridor 1 remains in full swing. Tunnel work is also going on between Bada Chauraha to Nayaganj in the approximately 4-km-long Chunniganj-Nayaganj underground section.