BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) Coastal Road Project reached a milestone on Monday. The Tunnel Boring Machine Mavala boring the tunnel stretch between Priyadarshini Park and Marine Drive has done its first breakthrough at Girgaum Chowpatty.

TBM Mavala has 12.9 metre diameter. It is the biggest ever TBM used in India. The TBM itself has caused controversy in the beginning of the project. Because its delivery and assembly coincided with the Chinese aggression on India's border. In the skirmish dozens of soldiers from India and China were killed. As a result, India has rejected using Chinese technicians to assemble the TBM which was manufactured by China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Company (CRCHI).  Problems with the assembly caused delay as well.

The Mumbai Coastal Road Project aims to connect south and north of the city in a fast way. The Rs 12,000-crore Mumbai Coastal Road project will also build the first underwater tunnel of India. The construction of the packages 1 and 4 are undertaken by by Larsen and Toubro (L&T).