India's First Eight-Lane Tunnel Beneath A Tiger Reserve Set To Open On Delhi-Mumbai Expressway

New Delhi ( Raghwendra Pratap Singh) : The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is close to full completion, with the 4.9-km tunnel near Kota in Rajasthan likely to open after 20 June. Considered India's first eight-lane road tunnel running beneath the ecologically fragile Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve, the structure forms a crucial link in the 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which is being built at a cost of Rs 95,000 crore.

Once the corridor is fully running, the road trip between Delhi and Mumbai is likely to take around 12 hours, against the more than 24 hours it currently demands.

Apart from cutting travel time, the expressway is expected to bring down logistics costs and improve links across Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The tunnel lets traffic flow along the corridor without disturbing wildlife, sidestepping a longer, winding alignment. The Kota portion had been among the last major missing pieces for uninterrupted travel.

Building the tunnel took nearly four and a half years owing to the tiger reserve's ecological sensitivity. The Gurugram-Dausa stretch is already open, and most sections between Dausa and Vadodara are either functional or close to ready, while the Godhra-Vadodara segment began trial runs in April.

Designed for speeds up to 120 kmph with no signals or grade crossings, the access-controlled road also has a 21-metre median that allows future expansion from eight to 12 lanes.