PUNE: The tunnel boring machines for the underground section of Pune metro rail project will reach the city by September, 2019. The tenders for it will be floated soon. “The companies, which manufacture these machines, are based out of country so the tenders will be international bids. These machines along the experts and operators to handle them will be come to the city in the next five to six months,” said Atul Gadgil, executive director of metro rail project.He said that four machines will start operating in the city in the first phase. Two locations for it have been finalised including one at Shivajinagar and one at Swargate . The tunnel boring will be done at these locations with help of two machines at each spot. The total cost of four machines will be around Rs 280 crore. Nearly 15 people will be deployed to operate each machine. A staff of 60 people will be added once the machines start operating in the city.Gadgil said that the underground project takes around five year to complete since it start. The metro rail has started work on this project in 2017. It is expected to be completed by 2022.Around 5 km long underground metro route is part of Pune’s metro rail project. It will start at Agriculture College and end at Swargate ; passing via city areas. This section will have five stations including Mandai , Kasba Peth, Swargate, Shivajinagar and Civil Court.

Stay updated with all the Pune Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.