Bengaluru tunnel road project wasteful, can cause environmental damage: experts
The tunnel road between Hebbal Junction and Mekhri Circle in Bengaluru will be built by the year end, CM Siddaramaiah said recently.
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Several experts have warned that the proposed tunnel road will lead to environmental complications and not serve the stated purpose of decongesting traffic. (Representational image/Express File Photo)A tunnel road project proposed for Bengaluru by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who is also the minister in charge of the development of the state capital, has drawn flak from residents, urban mobility experts and environmentalists alike.
The tunnel road between Hebbal Junction and Mekhri Circle will be constructed on a pilot basis by the end of this year, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in his budget speech recently.
Earlier, in his Republic Day address, Governor Thawarchand Gehlot announced that the process of preparing a detailed project report for the 2km tunnel road was underway with the help of an international agency.
However, several experts have warned that the proposed tunnel road will lead to environmental complications and not serve the stated purpose of decongesting traffic.
Experts speak
Prof Ashish Verma, who teaches in the civil engineering department of the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said the tunnel road would not improve any traffic parameters. “The proposed construction of a tunnel road between Hebbal Junction and Mekhri Circle would mean nothing for Bengaluru. It is a colossal waste of money. The stretch already witnesses a free flow of traffic with vehicles cruising at 80 km per hour,” said Verma.
“The bottleneck, however, is at the Hebbal flyover and on Bellary Road. But on Bellary Road, the road widening project is already underway, which means the bottleneck crisis will be solved. Instead of a tunnel road, if the government can build a tunnel metro, it would be carrying 40 times the passenger traffic through public transport,” he added.
Vishwanath S, a civil engineer and the director of Biome Environmental Solutions, said the construction of the tunnel road would have far-reaching environmental implications, the major one being groundwater depletion. “Bengaluru is already grappling with a water supply crisis and if at all tunnel roads are constructed, the groundwater depletion would be significant. The tunnel road construction will impact the aquifer, which recharges borewells and groundwater, thus disrupting the overall groundwater supply,” he said.
R Rajagopalan, convener of the Bengaluru Residents Welfare Association, said, “Traffic at Hebbal Junction is multidirectional, with vehicles coming from KR Puram, airport, Doddaballapur etc. Instead of a tunnel road, the government can explore options like a clover structure. Constructing a two-way tunnel road wouldn’t solve the problem given the multidirectional traffic of the stretch. Moreover, Bengaluru road infrastructure is still technically challenged to build tunnels, given the (loose) texture of soil.”
According to a traffic police officer, bottleneck traffic between Hebbal Junction and Mekhri Circle happens only in the morning (incoming) and evening (outgoing) hours. “During the rest of the day, the traffic in the given stretch is usually free-flowing. Moreover, we have also banned heavy vehicles during the peak hour to reduce congestion. Whether the proposed tunnel road will reduce traffic congestion is questionable,” he said.
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