BENGALURU: “Mr Chief Minister, you have not laid a foundation stone today. You have laid the tombstone of scientific urban planning in Bengaluru,”said Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, registering his opposition to the short tunnel project between Hebbal and Mekhri Circle.
Replying to Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s post on the foundation stone laying programme, Surya on Sunday called the Rs 1,139 crore, 2-km tunnel project an unscientific solution that will fail to address Bengaluru’s traffic problems.
He said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) admits that the tunnel will be saturated from the very first day of operation. “Not five years later. Not 10 years later. Day One. If the project’s own report says it will begin its life in a traffic jam, then who exactly is this project for? Certainly not commuters,” he said.
He said the perception among Bengalureans is that the project benefits a privileged few, while the entire city bears the cost. “This project seems designed to make life easier for a privileged few, the VIPs of Sadashivanagar, including the chief minister and the city’s elite who use this corridor to reach the airport, while ordinary taxpayers across Bengaluru foot the bill,” he added.
“Undoubtedly, the primary beneficiaries of this project will be the contractors who will reroute large kickbacks to the Congress’ funds,” he alleged.
He reiterated that the government should instead prioritise public transport and fast-track the proposed Red Line Metro corridor. “If the government genuinely wanted to reduce congestion, it would have fast-tracked the Red Line Metro. Public transport is the only proven long-term solution for Bengaluru. Flyovers have failed. Tunnels will fail too,” he said.
He noted that Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda has repeatedly argued that short flyovers cannot solve congestion. “Then how does a short tunnel suddenly become the answer? Bengaluru deserves an explanation. If the minister cannot stand up to oppose such unscientific projects, then nothing has changed in the city’s approach to development,” he said.
The short tunnel will not become a gateway to a much larger tunnel project, and they will oppose every such attempt. “Bengaluru needs more Metro routes, more buses, better suburban rail and better urban planning, not expensive monuments of failed thinking,” he said.