Bengaluru South MP Tejashwi Surya on Monday criticizes the proposed Tunnel Road Project on Karnataka’s sub -west DK Shivkumar, criticizing as an unscientific and elite initiative, which meets the needs of the common man.
Addressing a press conference, Surya said that the Congress -led state government was emphasizing through a pride project, which would serve rich residents of neighborhoods like Sadashivnagar and Kormangla, instead of benefiting the majority of Bengalurian to invest in strong public transport solutions.
“When the DCM himself states that even God cannot solve the traffic issues of Bangalore, he is only exposing his failure to rule. Bengaluru needs a competent leadership, not divine intervention,” Surya commented. “This tunnel road, which is planned from Hebbal to Silk Board, is a project that is for the rich, which has been paid by the rest of us.”
The MP raised serious concerns over the viability study of the Tunnel Road Project and the credibility of the Detailed Project Report (DPR). He claimed that the DPR of Rs 9.5 crore allegedly included copied material from BMRCL DPR, which cost only Rs 1.6 crore. He said, “The shocking thing is that the report mentions traffic volume in Malegaon and Nashik-nowhere is not close to the Bangalore-it was copy-pasted by a fully unrelated study,” he said.
Surya also flagged the background of the advisors involved. He said that one of the firms behind the feasibility study – part of a joint venture between lion advisors and Ultinok – has been blacklisted in Madhya Pradesh on a National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) project. Meanwhile, Rodic Advisor, who prepared the DPR, was allegedly associated with a scam of Rs 500 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
He further alleged that the project was proceeding without compulsory approval from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA), violating Section 19 of the BMLTA Act.
By calling the state government to remove the tunnel road proposal, Surya said that public transport should be given priority instead. “Bangalore is a heartbeat of modern India and deserves world -class infrastructure. Before constructing a 100 -km flyover network or an extraordinary tunnel, DCM should first complete the Hosura flyover and Hoskerehalli Junction Projects,” he said.
The story continues below this advertisement
In June, the Karnataka cabinet first approved the construction of two major tunnel road corridors under the build-on-operate-transfer (boot) model in Bangalore, clearing the way for toll-based road use. Planned under the boot (build, on -on -on, operating and transfer) model, the concession period is scheduled in 30 years, during which the selected private players will fix their investment through toll collection.
Shivkumar also said that tender works are going on and global tenders will be released through newspaper notification in the next two-three days.
The DPR of the Twin-Tube tunnel road project in Bangalore between Hebbal and Silk Board has estimated a toll of Rs 330 for a distance of 16.6 km. The cost of this project is around Rs 18,000 crore.
North – The South Corridor is being developed as an underground vehicle tunnel starting from Hebbal Estem Mall Junction to Silk Board KSRP, which has three intermediate locations connected through the ramp for entry and the main tunnel to get out in the main tunnel. This alignment will connect Hebbal and Silk Board Junctions and proposes three intermediate ramps directly to Mekhari Circle, Race Course and Lalbagh, so the journey will reduce the time of travel from about 90 minutes to 45 minutes and reduce the crowd on the route.
,
