Mumbai, Jan 24: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has achieved a crucial engineering milestone for the under-construction Metro Line 7A with the successful diversion of a 2,400-mm
Upper Vaitarana water pipeline along the alignment of the airport-bound corridor.
Coordination with civic departments
MMRDA said on Saturday that the complex diversion was executed through meticulous planning and precision engineering, with seamless coordination among multiple Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) departments, including the Planning Division, Outside City (Trunk Mains), the Hydraulic Engineer’s Office and the K/East ward.
The operation was carried out within a tightly scheduled shutdown window, with water supply restored on time, paving the way for the timely completion of the corridor.
Tunnel breakthroughs achieved
The utility diversion marks a significant milestone for Metro Line 7A, which achieved its final tunnel breakthrough in July last year on the underground stretch connecting Andheri (East) to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
The tunnel drive was carried out using a tunnel boring machine (TBM) named Dhruv, which began excavation on November 4, 2023. The upline tunnel spans around 1.65 km.
Earlier, in April 2025, TBM Disha had completed the first tunnel breakthrough on the corridor.
Extension of Red Line
Metro Line 7A is a 3.4-km extension of the operational Red Line (Metro Line 7), which currently runs from Andheri (East) to Dahisar (East). The extension will connect Andheri (East) directly to the international airport, significantly improving east–west connectivity. The alignment is partly elevated and partly underground, running parallel to the Western Express Highway and the Sahar Elevated Road.
Stations and alignment
The corridor will have two stations — an elevated station at Airport Colony and an underground station at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, located parallel to Terminal T2 and the Metro Line 3 airport station. The alignment goes underground just before the vehicular underpass of the Sahar Elevated Road in Vile Parle (East).
Preparatory works completed
This metro project has involved extensive preparatory work, including the transfer of land by the Airports Authority of India in October 2021, resettlement and rehabilitation of nearly 200 hutments in Bamanwada and Valmiki Nagar, and diversion of several critical utilities. This also included a 1,800-mm sewer line that was realigned using micro-tunnelling and commissioned in January 2023.
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Part of larger metro plan
Metro Line 7A is part of MMRDA’s larger plan to build a 337-km metro network across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. At present, Metro Lines 1, 2A and 7 are operational, while the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has commissioned the city’s first underground Metro Line 3 between Aarey and Colaba–Cuffe Parade.
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