// Journal · Tunnelling
India's first eight-lane tunnel under a tiger reserve opens on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway
The 4.9 km tunnel beneath the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve near Kota took about four and a half years, built to keep the forest's animal corridors intact above it.
On the Delhi–Vadodara section of the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway, near Kota in Rajasthan, the road now dives beneath the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve. The 4.9 km tunnel is the country's first eight-lane road tunnel built under a wildlife zone.
Building under a forest
Construction took around four and a half years. Because the reserve above is ecologically sensitive, engineers used special construction methods to limit disturbance to the forest and to keep its natural animal corridors open — wildlife moves on the surface undisturbed while traffic runs underneath.
The corridor it completes
- Length: about 1,386 km, from Sohna in Gurugram to JNPT in Mumbai, through Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
- Estimated cost: around ₹95,000 crore.
- Design: eight lanes on a 21 m median, expandable to twelve; speeds up to 120 km/h.
- Travel time: Delhi to Mumbai expected to fall from more than 24 hours to about 12 once the whole route is open.
The Mukundra tunnel is a template for the next generation of expressways that must cross protected land: go under, not through.
Source: India TV News, 20 June 2026.
