BENGALURU: The 2.5-km short tunnel project from Esteem Mall to Baptist Hospital and the proposed elevated corridor to Mehkri Circle are now hanging by a thread, with questions being raised over whether they will see the light of day after the projects were approved without review by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) and their reliance on the legally challenged Rule 24, the ‘savings’ clause of the BMLTA Act.
The projects were approved by the state government on December 8, 2025, bringing them within the purview of the BMLTA Act and making them subject to scrutiny, as was the proposed long tunnel road from Hebbal to Silk Board.
A key question is how the BDA could have assumed exemption under Rule 24 when the draft BMLTA Rules were first made public only on January 3, 2026. This was the first time the ‘savings’ clause was publicly mentioned. The final Rules were notified only on July 2, 2026, after public consultation and widespread criticism of the savings clause. The provision has also been challenged in court.
The BMLTA Act came into force on March 27, 2023, bringing major urban mobility projects proposed thereafter within its purview. The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), acting as the BMLTA secretariat, had reviewed and raised its concerns on the proposed long tunnel road.
However, DULT later wrote to the BBMP clarifying that its comments should not be treated as BMLTA comments as the authority had not yet been established. Speaking about the legal standing of Rule 24, Mukunda NS, founder-member of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, said it was a “self-defeating rule” that went against the very purpose of establishing the BMLTA and was likely to be struck down by a court.
“If the very purpose of establishing the BMLTA – to review all urban mobility projects – is sidelined, the Act itself is defeated,” he said.
While the BDA admitted that that projects were exempt under Rule 24, responding to a query on how the project was allowed to proceed without BMLTA review, Lakshmipathy, Deputy Director of Town Planning, DULT, said, “As there was a delay between the Act coming into force and formation of BMLTA, the government did not want to wait for the BMLTA to be formed and delay the project. Hence, the exemption clause was brought. Accordingly, the government issued government order for the projects in December itself.”