Bengaluru: Picture this: an 18-kilometre tunnel that almost teleports a Bangalorean motorist from the Silk Board junction to Hebbal—two of the most dreaded traffic junctions—without having to endure vehicular congestion in any other part of the city.
Bangalore’s Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar certainly thinks the Bengaluru city corporation can achieve this monumental feat and hence, has secured an ‘in principle’ approval from the Siddaramaiah-led state cabinet for an underground vehicular tunnel in twin-tube mode to be built at a whopping cost of Rs 12,690 crore.
The tunnel’s length is almost double the distance of the newly inaugurated Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road in Mumbai. The first stretch of the high-speed corridor is 10.58 kilometres long and has cost Rs 14,000 crore.
Shivakumar has been persistently propagating this idea for the past months almost as a panacea to decongest India’s IT capital which has a population of nearly 1.4 crore and around 1.10 crore vehicles plying on its roads.
“This is the only way. We cannot think of anything other than this. In elevated corridors, we cannot have six lanes, pillars below will obstruct traffic,” Tushar Giri Nath, chief commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body), told ThePrint Friday.
BBMP is largely blamed for the poor quality of infrastructure, lack of planning and corruption, and will be heading the project. Although Bengaluru is referred to with its more endearing monikers such as ‘India’s IT capital’, ‘startup hub’, and ‘innovation city’, it has become a template for ‘urban ruin’.
Even the detailed project report (DPR) is not ready yet and is likely to be finished by 15 October. On its part, the government is yet to finalise the source of financing and model for the mammoth project.
Giri Nath said the current recommendation is to construct a road about 15-20 metres below the surface. He added that the norm is 2D, which means if the diameter is 14 metres, the depth will be double of that.
However, he said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been working with 1.5D, which means it will go down 1.5 times the diameter of the road project.
The initial plan is to run a straight line between Silk Board and Hebbal.
Bengaluru, like other metros in India, has witnessed rapid and unplanned urbanisation with infrastructure barely able to catch up, resulting in congestion and by extension, declining quality of life for residents.
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‘Bengaluru Metro’
Giri Nath said the tunnel was conceived with an idea of serving the city, taking into account expected growth over the next 20-25 years.
“We have to also see approaches (entry), intervening points, exit and entry points…this shows that it (tunnel) has to be as much closer to the alignment of the road on the surface as possible, otherwise you have to make a turn and again come to the surface roads even though there are no technical constraints,” Giri Nath said.
Nearly 2,000 new vehicles enter Bengaluru’s roads each day, according to government estimates. This is because higher reliance on private modes to commute on account of delays in completion of mass transit options is compounding the problem for India’s IT capital and its dreams of turning into a global city similar to New York or London.
London’s subway system, built in 1863, continues to serve as its biggest lifeline, reducing congestion or at least giving residents an option of not owning a car.
In Bengaluru, the Metro Rail connects barely 72 kilometres within the city that is currently around 800 square kilometres and has been proposed to be expanded to 1,400 square kilometres in the near future.
In fact, the highest-ever metro ridership was logged on 14 August with a total boarding of just over 9.17 lakhs, that is less than eight to nine percent of Bengaluru’s total population. It is the project which takes up the biggest chunk of the public mass transit budget but provides for less than one quarter of the bus fleet and network, which has remained stagnant for many years now.
Delays in completion of metro works, stagnation of the bus fleet, and poor and inadequate infrastructure has made even the most basic commute a painful and an enduring task for Bengalureans.
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya Wednesday highlighted the plight of Bengaluru.
“Everyday, we are adding thousands of new private vehicles onto the roads which is only adding to the problem. Even running errands from neighbourhood stores takes so much time. The city roads, including the small lanes in residential areas, are way beyond its carrying capacity, and there is no space to make more roads. Anyway, more roads mean more private vehicles,” Surya said in a statement.
He added that the cost of commuting has become expensive too as app-based aggregators have upward revised prices. “The condition of roads across the city is pathetic, with potholes and unscientific humps. BBMP and its officials turn a blind eye to all the commercial developments in residential areas, further adding to the traffic density. In short, the quality of life is getting worse everyday,” he added.
‘Fund crunch’
The Congress stormed to power in the 2023 assembly elections on the promise of its ‘five guarantees’ that cost the exchequer around Rs 60,000 crore annually. With capital inflows drying up and a reduced share in central taxes, Karnataka has been making big plans but has little idea on where the money for such projects will come from.
Giri Nath said there are various models of funding and the government-appointed consultancy firm is deliberating options.
The state cabinet also approved the proposal to construct a Skydeck in Bengaluru, touted to be South Asia’s tallest at 250 metres. It will provide a 360-degree view of the city. The structure has been mooted to project the city’s image and will cost Rs 500 crore.
Earlier this month, the Karnataka government said that it will set up an expert committee to help mop up resources to mitigate the fund crunch, ThePrint reported.
In the meantime, it has resorted to hiking prices of liquor, extending deadlines for commercial establishments, including pubs and restaurants, fuel price hike and other taxes to bring in some much needed revenues.
Shivakumar has now proposed a water-tariff hike. “There has been no water tariff hike in the last 12-13 years. The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is managing its finances with great difficulty. Water tariff hike is inevitable and it will be done irrespective of any opposition to it,” he said Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally, Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), have opposed the move, calling it a move out of desperation.
Bengaluru also does not have an elected city council for nearly four years now, leaving the state government and officials incharge of announcing projects but no grievance redressal mechanisms for citizens. “Successive governments in the State, across parties, have failed to provide our wonderful city the vision and leadership that it deserves,” Surya said.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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