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In 2018, a hilarious 12-minute film about a boy meeting a girl, falling in love, getting married and having a baby — all while clearing a heavy traffic jam in Bengaluru — divided the city. Despite countless internet memes and attempts to ease congestion in Bengaluru and the appointment of a senior police officer who has become famous for helping reduce traffic congestion at major intersections, the city remains clogged.
The bustling city of Bengaluru, known for its thriving IT industry, has long suffered from severe traffic congestion. To alleviate this perennial problem, the newly formed Congress government of Karnataka has an ambitious plan to find an underground solution to the problems of overground traffic. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar held meetings with stakeholders and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Area Development Authority (BMRDA) to come up with a feasible plan involving the construction of 50 kilometers of tunnels. The initial budget allocation is estimated at Rs. 22,000 crore for the initial phase.
Deep dive
While initial estimates for this ambitious project are a staggering Rs 50,000 crore, the envisioned network that is expected to span a total of 99 kilometers is aimed at enhancing connectivity and easing traffic congestion in Bengaluru. This consists of three main lanes that criss-cross IT City by connecting the north-south corridor between Yelahanka and Silk Board Junction, and two east-west lanes connecting PR Puram, Goragontepalia, Farther Kodi and Gnanaparati. Three other connecting corridors to the rest of the city have also been proposed.
Shivakumar believes that the construction of tunnel roads in Bengaluru is seen as a promising solution to the city’s notorious traffic jams. However, caution is necessary, as feasibility and cost considerations must be carefully evaluated before proceeding with implementation.
The estimated cost of the tunnels is around Rs 450 crore per kilometre.
The state government intends to conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for the construction of tunnel roads in the congested areas of the city centre, to connect Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) with IT corridors.
previous efforts
The proposal to build tunnels through Bengaluru is nothing new.
In 2017 in the first term of the Congress government led by Sidarmayah, a preliminary report prepared by a Bulgarian company laid the groundwork for the construction of a tunnel road in Bengaluru. This proposed project, spanning 83 kilometers, has been costed at a staggering Rs 25,000 crore and three lanes are planned to be built through IT City – a north-south corridor of about 16 kilometers from the Central Silk Board to Hebbal passing through the central business district. Another east-west pass from KR Puram to Goraguntepalya, and Jnana Bharathi to Varthur Kodi. They will also be connected through smaller delivery lanes. Despite planning and initial groundwork, the project failed to take off.
The Congress government itself had announced two years earlier in 2015 its plans to ease traffic congestion in Bengaluru with a circular tunnel route through the city. This proposed corridor aims to enhance connectivity and ease traffic congestion. It included connecting Tumakuru Road to Doddaballapur Road, Ballari Road, Sarjapur Road and finally the confluence with Hosur Road. After submitting a comprehensive project feasibility report, it was noted that the project was not unworkable.
The BJP government led by Yediurappa had a proposal in 2011 where the then Bengaluru Development Minister R Ashoka proposed a tunnel route. This proposal did not take off because the area that was proposed for the project had already been allocated the same stretch of land for the underground metro rail system.
If you go back in 2007, the Karnataka government led by H.D. Kumaraswamy had also put forward an ambitious proposal to build a tunnel road that would run alongside Vidhana Soudha and under Raj Bhavan: i.e. from Minsk Square to Sankey Road. This proposal remained in cold storage.
vision group
In an effort to revive his guru, SM Krishna’s initiative dubbed the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), which aims to beautify, develop and decongest Bengaluru, DK Shivakumar held a meeting with a visionary group. This will include eminent personalities and stakeholders such as Nandan Nilekani, Narayana Moorthy and others. This vision group will also include Bengaluru legislators and parliamentarians to help formulate policies.
“In the coming days, we plan to invite various stakeholders and businessmen to form the Vision Bengaluru team, to act as an advisory group,” he told the media.
Shivakumar also held a round of discussions with officials from AECOM, an international agency specializing in infrastructure design, to explore a range of solutions to ease congestion in Bengaluru. The discussions included not only the construction of tunnel roads, but also the prospects for surface roads, elevated roads, and the concept of double-decker tunnel roads.
Missing link
According to officials working closely on this project, the basic idea behind the tunnel roads is to seamlessly connect the inner roads of Bengaluru with the outer ring roads, thus facilitating smoother and more efficient movement of passengers while at the same time easing congestion.
The government plans to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) model, partially financing the project through a hybrid pension model. There is also a proposal to implement toll collection on tunnels which will help recover investments.
According to sources, if this plan is successful, Bengaluru will be home to one of the most extensive tunnel road networks in this part of the world.
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