Latest news with #CitizensforCitizens
News18
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- News18
8 Ramps, 16 Bottlenecks: Is Bengaluru's Tunnel Project Headed For A Jam? Know More
Last Updated: The DPR reveals that already packed spots like Hebbal Flyover, IISc, Maharani College Junction, Wilson Garden, and Hosur Road could witness even more snarls. Bengaluru's much-hyped tunnel road project, stretching from Hebbal to Silk Board and costing around Rs 22,000 crore, is now under scrutiny. Promoted as a fix for the city's infamous traffic snarls, this underground road may end up doing the opposite. Backed strongly by Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, the tunnel was meant to ease congestion. However, the final Detailed Project Report (DPR) reveals a worrying detail: the entry and exit ramps — just eight in total — could give rise to 16 new gridlock points, as per The new Indian Express. Where Will the Trouble Begin? The entry and exit ramps are planned in already clogged areas such as: While the tunnel's core length is 16.68 km, users will actually travel close to 18.91 km one way — thanks to the ramp distances. Depending on where one starts or ends the journey, additional travel on surface roads could further extend the route beyond 19 km. This defeats the whole purpose of faster travel and instead adds time, fuel, and frustration. Rajkumar Dugar, founder of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), warns the tunnel could worsen traffic even for those who don't use it. 'New U-turns, sharper merges, and narrower roads will choke the city even more," he said. Urban planner V Ravichandar also pointed out that entry/exit bottlenecks might cancel out any real time savings. view comments First Published: July 21, 2025, 14:26 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
New Indian Express
14-07-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Civic group flags eco risks to Lalbagh from Tunnel Road
BENGALURU: Civic forum Citizens for Citizens (C4C) has strongly opposed the proposed Tunnel Road project between Hebbal and Central Silk Board, raising concern about its proximity to the iconic Lalbagh rock and Lalbagh lake. In a letter addressed to Shamla Iqbal, secretary of the Horticulture Department, C4C urged authorities to reject the plan to safeguard the ecological and geological sanctity of Lalbagh. According to the letter, the project involves the construction of two tunnels, each 15 metres in diameter, along with two major entry ramps originating from Ashoka Pillar and Wilson Garden. These tunnels are expected to pass beneath or close to the 3,000-million-year-old Lalbagh rock, declared a national geological monument by the Geological Survey of India in 1975. The forum warned that the massive excavation work and construction activity would disrupt water tables, aquifers and the delicate ecology of Lalbagh lake. The group also expressed concerns about the potential damage to heritage trees and aquatic life due to vibrations and soil shifts during tunnelling. Rajkumar Dugar, founder and convenor of C4C, said, 'The ramps for the project, over a km long on either side, will lead to tree cutting, root damage and disruption of underground aquifers. The project in its current form poses geological, hydrological, ecological and civic risks, not just for Lalbagh but for the city at large.' The forum requested the Horticulture Department to obtain detailed technical reports from Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE).
Time of India
22-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Fresh flaws flagged in project report for Bengaluru's tunnel roads
Bengaluru: A slew of fresh inconsistencies has surfaced in the detailed project report (DPR) for the proposed tunnel roads between Hebbal (Esteem Mall junction) and Silk Board junction — raising pointed questions about the credibility of the project's foundational data. Critics and activists allege that the DPR, prepared for a tunnel slated to run 30 metres below ground level and cut travel time from one hour to about 20–25 minutes, leans heavily on outdated studies, unverifiable assumptions, and statistically implausible traffic projections. One of the most glaring examples is found in Table 93: Traffic for the year 2027-28, which shows an identical number of vehicles — 2,927 — travelling in both directions along the corridor. From Hebbal to Silk Board and back, the numbers match perfectly. Mobility experts call this a statistical impossibility in any real-world urban setting, and an obvious sign of a "copy-paste" error. "Except for changing the table's order, every other data on it is the same," said Rajkumar Duggar, founder of Citizens for Citizens, calling out the lack of scrutiny in the report's traffic estimates. Urban transport expert Satya Arikutharam was more scathing: "BBMP's approach to transport modelling is fundamentally flawed. The DPR selectively pulls elements from older studies, uses unverified assumptions, and produces outputs that are entirely outlandish." Indeed, Volume I of the DPR points to corridors such as Race Course Road to Hosur Main Road (via Wilson Garden) and Jayanagar to Race Course Road as the most congested in the city, each handling 20,283 vehicles. However, the tunnel corridor — from Race Course Road to Silk Board Junction — shows only 8,631 vehicles in either direction. This is despite it being pitched as a high-demand route worthy of a multi-thousand-crore investment. "The tunnel doesn't even serve the highest-density corridor by BBMP's own admission," said Arikutharam, stressing the need for accurate, present-day traffic assessments rather than backward-looking modelling. "We need real, up-to-date traffic flows, not something that's stitched together in haste," he added. Prof Ashish Verma, mobility expert from IISc, said: "You cannot design infrastructure by rehashing outdated reports. Mobility patterns in Bengaluru are constantly evolving. What we are seeing in this report is not data-driven planning — it is guesswork." Amid the growing criticism, urban mobility enthusiast Prasad N urged the BBMP to make the full DPR publicly available for peer review. "If the government plans to spend thousands of crores, the public deserves transparency," he said. "Every project on paper reduces travel time, but we need to ask: at what cost, and for whom? Without integration with buses and Metro, this tunnel could simply become another private vehicle expressway for the elite," Prasad added.
