In what is believed to be an ‘unofficial’ meeting with Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials, Congress leader Rajeev Gowda, entrepreneur and chairperson of Manipal Group of Education Mohandas Pai, and other stakeholders, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar has sought a feasibility study on tunnel roads, which the government claims may be a possible solution to decongest Bengaluru traffic. The meeting held at Shivakumar’s office at Vidhana Soudha on Tuesday also included officials from AECOM, an international agency for infrastructure designs, focused on exploring different solutions to decongest Bengaluru. It included the proposal of constructing surface roads and elevated roads, among other alternatives. According to officials present in the meeting, the concept of double-decker tunnel road, separate lane for two wheelers and tunnel road model in other countries, among other subjects, were discussed. “It was a knowledge-sharing meeting where inputs were sought from different stakeholders to find a solution to decongest Bengaluru traffic. Officials contemplated that if the tunnels were to be under the roads, there would be no cost or acquisition of land required. If we do it right, there shouldn’t be any disturbance to the existing traffic pattern,” said an official. The meeting is among a series of discussions convened by Shivakumar over the construction of tunnel roads in Bengaluru. According to early estimates, the project would cost approximately Rs 50,000 crore. The idea behind tunnel road is to connect the inner roads of Bengaluru to the outer ring roads. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Shivakumar also convened a meeting with top officials at the BDA office regarding the construction and outline of Bangalore Peripheral Road (Peripheral Road). BDA President Rakesh Singh, commissioner Kumar Naik, IAS officer Rajendra Cholan, among others, were present.
