Bengaluru: Ever since it was proposed, the ambitious tunnel road project in India’s IT capital has become one of the most controversial projects in Bengaluru.
The 16.74 km long and more than Rs 17,700 crore project will criss-cross Bengaluru’s most congested traffic corridors between Hebbal and Silk Board on the opposite ends of the city.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has pressed for the project, claiming it will reduce congestion and enable smooth traffic flow. The project, though, continues to face resistance from the Opposition and civil society over the Bengaluru city corporation’s perceived inability, among other factors.
With nearly 1.3 crore vehicles, Bengaluru is home to nearly the same number of people. Since 2019, the city has regularly featured among the most congested cities in the world. In 2024, it took an average of 34.1 minutes to travel 10 km in the city, with nearly 117 hours lost per year on roads during rush hours.
Shivakumar, who also has the city development portfolio, has been trying to mobilise support for the tunnel road project, meeting walkers in Cubbon Park in the morning and holding consultations with stakeholders to validate his plans. He has also hit out at detractors at any hint that they will oppose the project.
But what is the tunnel road project all about?
The project
‘North–South Underground Vehicular Tunnel Project’ is a proposed twin-tube underground tunnel—three lanes in each tube—connecting Hebbal and Silk Board Junction, two localities that contribute most to Bengaluru’s infamous traffic snarls.
The project is split into two packages. The Hebbal to Seshadri Road tunnel is estimated to cost Rs 8,770 crore, and the Seshadri Road to Silk Board tunnel Rs 8,928 crore. Many entry and exit ramps are proposed along the 17km tunnel.
The project will halve the 30 minutes or so taken to travel from Hebbal, one of Bengaluru’s biggest chokepoints, to Vidhana Soudha in the city’s center, according to the detailed project report (DPR). It will be completed within 50 months.
Under the mission statement, the project aims to ‘dramatically’ reduce traffic congestion in the city’s core, enhance urban mobility and connectivity, preserve surface-level urban space, and promote sustainable growth by reducing pollution.
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Why underground
Bengaluru’s road network spans nearly 14,000 km, including major arterial roads, sub-arterial roads, and residential streets.
The city’s major arterial roads alone account for just 20 percent of all roads but bear most of the high-density traffic.
Delays in completing the Peripheral Ring Road and Satellite Town Ring Road have exacerbated the problem, forcing most highway traffic to go through the city.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has advocated for underground road development as a solution to land acquisition problems, which significantly delay projects and inflate costs. This approach would also mitigate the need to demolish existing infrastructure and buildings on the ground.
During his first term in office, Siddaramaiah approved a 6.7-km steel bridge between Chalukya Circle and Hebbal, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,721 crore. The project was proposed to reduce travel time. But it also led to the cutting down of over 800 fully grown trees.
That project faced significant protests, including the #SteelBridgeBega campaign, forcing the government to stall it. Though the BJP initially opposed it, the party tried to revive the project when it came to power in 2019, with an inflated cost, raising concerns of corruption, as well.
The subsequent shelving of the project was seen as a significant victory for the city’s residents, environmentalists, and others—a testament to the impact of civil society protests.
In June 2023, speaking at a public event in Vidhana Soudha, Shivakumar said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and K.J. George, the then-development minister of Bengaluru, “were scared” of the protests and hence, shelved the project.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have succumbed to the sound made by protesters and gone ahead with the project, no matter what the consequences,” Shivakumar told the public that day.
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Apprehensions
The Bengaluru tunnel road was announced after significant opposition from various quarters. A major concern was whether the Bengaluru city corporation could effectively manage the scale of the project. Under the corporation’s watch, India’s IT capital appears to have undergone more ruin than renovation.
The corporation and the government are yet to complete just three kilometres of the E.G. Pura flyover, fuelling apprehensions of potential delays and corruption.
Another concern is that the project will lead to more congestion, since it prioritises cars. As Tejasvi Surya, the Bengaluru South Member of Parliament, said: “The tunnel road project is not the solution to Bengaluru’s traffic woes. Tunnel roads do not decongest cities; they merely shift traffic from one junction to another without addressing the root cause, which is the overdependence on private transport, and the lack of robust public mobility options.”
The opposition parties and urban experts have instead urged the Karnataka government to speed up construction of mass transit options, such as the metro and suburban rail, and expand the city’s fleet of public buses to make public transport a more viable option for residents.
On Sunday, Shivakumar took up their arguments to speak favourably of the project. “Isn’t the metro going through a tunnel?”
“I had travelled to 10 countries and prepared a report for the metro during the S.M. Krishna government. Ananthkumar and I travelled to Delhi to submit the report to then-PM Vajpayee. That was the beginning of the metro project,” he said.
However, at least three government agencies are known to have opposed the project in their reports. But, allegedly, diluted their findings later.
Urban experts, meanwhile, are focused on questioning the neglect of more viable options than the tunnel road.
“The tunnel road, if it happens at all, can only be contracted during the term of this government. Whereas 500 km of footpaths can be completely built in that time. 5000 more buses can be—completely—added in that time. Every major lake can have a cycle track around it—in that time,” Ashwin Mahesh, a city-based urban planner, said on X. “When we assess the value of projects, we shouldn’t just look at the project alone; we should look at what else can be done with the same funds for the same goals (mobility, in this case) and in a shorter period of time.”
The tunnel road project is also likely to lead to the erosion of green cover on one of the city’s biggest lung spaces—Lalbagh.
However, Shivakumar assured on Sunday, “We have done all sorts of studies on tunnel roads. I am not a fool to destroy Lal Bagh. I know its history and I know what is being used and what is not being used in the park.”
Mobilising support
Known for pushing development projects in states where it is in power, the BJP, the principal Opposition in Karnataka, has piled on pressure on the Siddaramaiah government to drop the tunnel road project. On Sunday, it held a public signature campaign to record opposition to the project.
“They shouldn’t speak arrogantly as if they will definitely implement the project. Lalbagh and Kempegowda Tower should not be damaged. The environment should not be destroyed,” Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka said Monday.
He remarked earlier that the project was designed for 10 percent of private car users and overlooks the majority of people from the middle- and lower-economic strata. The project cost, he said, will strain the state’s already stressed finances.
On Saturday, Shivakumar said that he was ready to form a committee on the tunnel road project, with R. Ashoka at its helm. He also plans to continue meeting morning walkers in Cubbon Park and the public in other places to get their backing for the project.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)