Authority works — MMRDA
MMRDA GPR Survey and Utility Clash Checks for Metro
Clash checks and utility drawings for metro piers, flyovers and road corridors across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Quick AnswerAn MMRDA GPR survey finds the underground utilities along a metro, flyover or road corridor before piers, piles or open cuts go in. Our crew scans the alignment with ground penetrating radar (GPR), traces live cables and checks chambers. The drawing then shows where each service clashes with the design; read the details of utility mapping for the formats.
Why do MMRDA corridors need an MMRDA utility survey first?
Because a metro pier or flyover foundation cannot move once it is cast, every main, cable and duct in its footprint has to be found and diverted beforehand. If the auger meets a trunk main under a pile position, the rig may stand idle for weeks while the owner approves a diversion. A damaged HT feeder can black out a whole colony.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority plans and funds regional infrastructure, and was created on 26 January 1975 under the MMRDA Act of 1974. It builds most of the metro network, except Lines 3 and 11, plus the monorail, the Eastern Freeway and the Atal Setu, which opened in January 2024. Phase 1 of Metro Lines 2B and 9 opened to passengers in April 2026, while Lines 4 and 4A through Thane were in trial runs during 2025–26.
Whose road is it, and why does that matter?
The corridor is MMRDA's project, yet the road beneath it often belongs to a city corporation and the services to a dozen other owners. Nine municipal corporations share the region, Greater Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli and Vasai-Virar among them. Diversion approvals and road-cutting permission therefore run through several offices at once.
Against every one of the utility lines our sheet prints a probable owner, which tells the contractor's liaison staff whose door to knock on. For alignments that fall within Mumbai's civic limits, the corporation's own trenching calendar is explained on our BMC utility survey for Mumbai sites page.
What does the survey deliver at each stage of a corridor?
Each visit is scoped to the stage the project has reached.
| Project stage | Typical question | Survey output |
|---|---|---|
| Feasibility or DPR | Which side of the road carries fewer services? | Corridor-wide utility layer, both carriageways |
| Detailed design | Does any pier, pile or ramp hit a main? | Clash list against the pier and foundation layout |
| Diversion planning | Where can the line be shifted to? | Clear strips beside the alignment, with depths |
| Pre-construction | What is under this exact footing? | Grid scan of each footprint, marked on site |
| Handover | Where did the diverted lines finally go? | As-laid record of the new routes |
How deep does the scan need to go for piers and piles?
Deeper than for an ordinary trench, which is why we pair radar with other checks. Over a pile cap, the antenna fires brief electromagnetic waves downward; being a geophysical method, it pictures the subsurface by catching reflected signals at each change of material. Trunk mains and large drains in the region can sit well below the cable layer. Creek margins and reclaimed plots hold briny water, and that electrical conductivity swallows the pulse within a metre or two. Over each footing the crew runs a low-frequency antenna, puts the locator on metallic pipes and cables, and tapes depths in open chambers. For island-city soil behaviour, read about GPR survey in Mumbai, and permits plus ground types appear in our utility survey guide for Mumbai.
If the corridor design also calls for levels and street features (kerbs, trees, poles), we pick those up with a topographic survey for Mumbai sites tied to the same coordinates.
How do metro and smart road projects use the data later?
The same utility layer becomes the base record for the corridor once construction is done. After diverted lines are re-surveyed as laid, the authority, the corporation and the owners share one set of utility maps. Building that record is what we mean by more on smart city underground mapping. On large construction projects it also feeds subsurface utility engineering, since each line carries a stated confidence.
What should the project team send before we mobilise?
The alignment, any draft pier layout, the package boundaries and your piling programme. Owner records and your coordinate system help as well. With these we plan the crew-days and scan the urgent stretches first.
Each package of a few kilometres gets its own drawing as soon as its scan ends. On a ground penetrating radar survey sheet, solid strokes mean the data collected on site proved the line; dashed, flagged strokes mean paper alone.
What will an MMRDA utility survey cost?
Corridor work is priced per metre, with a minimum order of ₹1,00,000 per project and bigger discounts as the order grows.
- ₹24 per metre for a standard radar scan
- ₹32 per metre for an L-section that shows depth along the route
- Minimum order: ₹1,00,000 per project
- Whole-order discount: 25% above 100 km, 40% above 500 km, 50% above 1,000 km
- GST is extra on every figure
As an example, a 12 km standard scan of a corridor and its service roads comes to ₹2,88,000. A 120 km package earns the 25% discount, so ₹28,80,000 at the base rate drops to ₹21,60,000. Our engineer for MMRDA corridors is home-based in the Mumbai region, so radar starts within hours of your go-ahead and never later than one working day. Should a corridor package carry a mobilisation or travel charge, the quote lists it openly.
How are pier positions and buried lines tied together?
By surveying both on the corridor's own control, so a clash check compares like with like. MMRDA designs are set out from control pillars and a running chainage, which our surveyors occupy before scanning. Each line in the GPR data gets a chainage and an offset from the viaduct centreline, beside the planned footings. Static DGPS observations on Mumbai corridors carry the control along the route, and a total station survey picks up kerbs, medians and chamber covers between pillars.
Who runs GPR survey on MMRDA packages, and how do you start?
A survey company that does its own fieldwork, with no subcontracted crews. Corridor scanning has been our trade since 2003, past 1.5 lakh km by now. Every one of our 58 GPR systems is owned outright, and three ISO certificates, 9001, 14001 and 45001, govern how crews work. MMRDA has placed work orders with us directly. We also work for the civil contractors, design consultants and utilities that hold its metro, flyover and road packages.
For MMRDA utility mapping, send the alignment, any pier layout and the piling date to the Mezux team. An engineer will prepare a written figure; get a written quote for Mumbai region packages here.
Frequently asked questions
Does MMRDA carry out utility surveys itself?
Normally the survey sits inside the contractor's or consultant's scope. We work for whoever holds that scope.
Can you scan inside a barricaded metro site?
Yes. After the project's safety induction and access pass, we scan inside the barricades under that site's own permit-to-work system.
Do you survey outside Mumbai city?
Yes, anywhere in the region, including Thane, Navi Mumbai and the Vasai-Virar belt. For survey coverage in Mumbai details, see our location page.
Can you check a single pier footing?
Yes. Gridding one footprint takes little time, but the ₹1,00,000 project minimum still applies, so contractors tend to bundle several footings into one order.
Will you re-survey diverted lines?
Yes. An as-laid scan of the new route closes the record and is useful at handover.
How do you handle deep trunk mains?
In wet ground the radar may never reach them. We then rely on chamber depths, locator readings and the owner's own records, and any line we could not confirm is marked as unconfirmed.
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Written by Saniya Parveen · Technically reviewed by Rahul Rai · Updated 8 November 2026