Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Thursday, October 5 announced the proposal to construct a 190-kilometre tunnel to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru. These tunnels will come up at Bellary Road, Old Madras Road, Esteem Mall Junction to Mekhri Circle, Miller Road, Chalukya Circle, Trinity Circle, Sarjapur Road, Hosur Road, Kanakapura Road to Krishna Rao Park, Mysore Road to Sirsi Circle, Magadi Road, Tumkur Road to Yeshwantpur Junction, Outer Ring Road, Goraguntepalya, KR Puram, and Silk Board areas.
“A 190-km long tunnel road has been proposed to combat traffic congestion in Bengaluru and eight companies have qualified for it. These companies will submit a feasibility report and we are preparing to call for public tenders within 45 days,” DK Shivakumar said while addressing a press conference at Vidhana Soudha. Although there is no official estimate of the cost of the project, it was earlier said that the construction of these tunnels may require Rs 50,000 crore.
Shivakumar also said that the project will be executed in a phased manner. The selected companies will assess various aspects of the tunnel road, such as the number of lanes (four or six), the starting and ending points, and the possibility of expanding it across the city, the Deputy Chief Minister said.
According to Shivakumar these tunnels would be the best solution to decongest the traffic in the city. However, experts argue that the tunnels, with their expensive price tag, will only benefit private cars and not public transport. They also suggest that the funds should be invested in improving public transport buses and suburban trains, which serve a larger population.
Concerns have been raised regarding the project's timeline due to the rocky terrain in Bengaluru. Experts believe that drilling even two kilometres of tunnel underground within a year would be a significant challenge.