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The construction firm Larsen and Toubro achieved a remarkable feat on the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag Rail Link project on June 29, a day ahead of the baseline schedule, setting a new world record in tunnel construction using a single-shield hard rock tunnel boring machine. "The TBM Team has broken the world record by achieving a maximum progress of 790 metres in a month (31 days) using Single Scheid Hard Rock TBM named Shiv," S V Desai, the Whole Time Director, L&T Limited, told PTI on Tuesday. The company officials stated that this was the first time that anywhere in the world a single-shield hard rock tunnel boring machine (TBM) was used in such an efficient manner. "In the last leg of the boring work in the month of May-June for the longest rail tunnel of the country, the TBM, named Shiv, excavated 790 meters in 31 days and achieved a breakthrough," Rakesh Arora, Project Director, added. This 13.09-km-long tunnel is the downline one, running parallel at a 25-metre distance from the .
Temple authorities in Uttarakhand's Haridwar, Rishikesh and Dehradun districts have imposed a ban on the entry of devotees not wearing appropriate clothing. Mahant Ravindra Puri, secretary of the Mahanirvani Panchayati Akhara, on Sunday said a formal ban has been imposed on the entry of "scantily-clad men and women" into the Daksh Prajapati Mandir (Haridwar), Tapkeshwar Mahadev Mandir (Dehradun) and the Neelkanth Mahadev Mandir (Rishikesh). "Only women who have their bodies covered up to 80 per cent can enter these temples," Puri, who is also president of the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad, said. The ban comes into effect immediately at these temples affiliated to the Mahanirvani Panchayati Akhara, he said. Mahanirvani Panchayati Akhara consists of the Dashnam Naga seers. Puri said the ban will soon be extended to akhara-affiliated temples across the country. Asked about the necessity to impose the ban, Puri said, "Sometimes people entering the temples are so skimpily dressed th