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Synopsis The theme of the World Tunnel Congress 2008 `Underground Facilities for Better Environment and Safety' which has been chosen for this congress signifies the importance of underground works for our future generation. It is important for a fast developing country like India which is attaching considerable importance to the development of tunnels and underground space. In our endeavour to provide an open forum for exchanging new information and ideas related to tunnel and underground space utilization, we requested the potential participants, interested companies and institutions from all over the world to submit papers for this congress which would be their valuable contribution for updating the know-how of engineers, scientists, geologist and all concerned with this field, world wide. The response has been very encouraging and impressive. The contents of the papers are informative, educative and I am sure these will contribute to the value addition of all the participants and all others who have an opportunity to go through these papers. All the authors of the papers need to be specially complimented who have taken great pains in writing these papers. Their efforts are duly recognized and we appreciate their willingness to share their knowledge with other professionals. The Proceedings of the ITA-AITES WTC2008 and the CD-ROM present the full papers accepted by the Technical Committee of the Congress. Authors submitted 289 abstracts which were reviewed and 210 papers were selected for publication. The published papers have been grouped into 7 sections which are the main topics for discussion in the congress.