Tunnels humble you!

Tunnel is never a child's play. It is a kind of anti-engineering work.

Having lived through close to a hundred of them walking through
collapsing or likely to collapse ones, I feel if I have to do again one
more, it will be with the same level of humility and anticipation of
meeting the umknown if the strata is not regular hard rock.

Finally I told the UN expert in tunnels who rushed out in panic while
visiting the last tough Pernem soft soil tunnel, leaving me behind, that
all methods failed and we are completing the tunnel using "rat"
technique!

My guru also abandoned me to as he wanted to do more imp work and left giving me a piece of advise to change the alignment in 1997.

So kept a liquid nitrogen gas tanker with own designed pipe systems
stayed with workers and it was sheer motivation and inspiration of
humans which made that tunnel.

The tanker was more a show piece that we also are pumping liquid
nitrogen etc. To help keep morale high. Repeated collapses drain all
those who struggle there. As a leader one has to appear to be very wise
more tricks in your armour. But in truth it is the perseverance and
never die attitude of every siingle worker and egineer which made the
tunnel at Pernem.

Soft soils and soft people actually are the hardest to tackle and
prevail over.

The reward was I with my engineers led the first train across on the
Republic Day 1998 declaring KR was through. Yes no politician involved.
Thanks to Sheshan and elections.

Tens of thousands of proud citizens both sides of Maharashtra and Goa
border celebrated and honoured us with lights, flowers and sweets.

Every tunnel is like delivery of a baby. Life and death are two sides of
the same coin. We can only do our best. NATM is certainly a very wise
approach. There is nothing like the most reliable perfect method in
tunneling.

Mother earth has too many surprises in her womb.

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