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CA
Civic Admin
05 Jan
Bengaluru
Bengaluru Cannot Be Dug Out of Congestion: A Citizen’s Appeal to Halt Tunnel Roads
To The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah Vidhana Soudha Bengaluru Subject: An urgent appeal to halt the tunnel road project and protect Bengaluru from irreversible urban harm Respected Chief Minister Sir, We write to you on behalf of Civic Opposition of India, a citizen-led public platform working on issues of urban governance, mobility, and environmental accountability. This letter is a sincere and urgent appeal to pause and reconsider the proposed tunnel road project in Bengaluru before the city is pushed further into irreversible ecological and financial damage. Bengaluru is not facing a shortage of roads. It is facing a collapse of planning, public transport neglect, and institutional accountability. The tunnel road proposal, projected to cost tens of thousands of crores of public money, attempts to treat congestion as an engineering problem rather than a governance failure. History shows that such solutions do not reduce traffic. They merely relocate it, deeper and more expensively. Around the world, cities that once embraced urban highways and tunnels are now dismantling them at enormous cost, having learnt that induced demand overwhelms every new lane, flyover, or tunnel. Bengaluru risks repeating these mistakes at a scale the city can neither afford nor survive. Recent experience in Bengaluru validates this concern. The newly constructed loop at the Hebbal flyover, instead of easing congestion, has merely shifted traffic to the next junction, exactly the pattern predicted by transport experts. This real-time evidence underscores that building more road capacity for cars does not solve congestion; it merely relocates it and deepens the city’s infrastructure distress. Why this project alarms citizens 1. It diverts scarce public money from real solutions At a time when Bengaluru struggles with broken footpaths, unsafe streets, poor bus frequency, unfinished suburban rail, and chronic last-mile gaps, committing massive funds to tunnels prioritizes private vehicles over the daily commuter. This is neither equitable nor sustainable. 2. It poses serious environmental and hydrological risks Large-scale underground construction in a city already suffering from groundwater depletion and flooding raises grave concerns. Tunnelling threatens aquifers, destabilizes soil layers, and increases long-term flood risk, especially in a city whose natural drainage systems and lakes are already compromised. 3. It weakens democratic and planning processes Projects of this magnitude demand transparent studies, independent peer review, and genuine public consultation. Citizens increasingly feel that decisions are being fast-tracked while dissenting voices, urban experts, and resident groups are treated as obstacles rather than stakeholders. 4. It locks Bengaluru into a car-centric future Every rupee spent on tunnels is a rupee not spent on buses, metro integration, suburban rail, cycling infrastructure, and walkable streets. Tunnel roads institutionalize inequality by privileging car owners while the majority continue to endure unreliable, unsafe, and overcrowded public transport. The larger truth Bengaluru’s traffic problem cannot be solved underground. It must be solved at the surface, where people live, walk, cycle, and commute daily. Cities are not saved by hiding cars beneath them. They are saved by reducing car dependence altogether. This city once led India in innovation and forward thinking. Today, it risks becoming a case study in how not to plan a metropolis. Citizens are not opposing development. We are opposing misdirected development that mortgages the city’s future for short-term optics. What we respectfully ask We urge your government to: 1. Immediately pause the tunnel road project and place all related studies, contracts, and feasibility reports in the public domain. 2. Constitute an independent urban mobility and environment review panel, including transport planners, hydrologists, climate experts, and citizen representatives. 3. Redirect priority and funding to public transport, especially BMTC expansion, suburban rail acceleration, last-mile connectivity, and safe pedestrian infrastructure. 4. Adopt a long-term mobility vision that reduces private vehicle dependence rather than accommodating its unchecked growth. A citizen’s appeal Chief Minister Sir, Bengaluru does not need grand underground experiments. It needs honest governance, people-first mobility, and the courage to say no to projects that look impressive but harm the city quietly and permanently. We request your personal intervention to ensure that Bengaluru’s future is shaped by wisdom, not by inertia or pressure from vested interests. This decision will define how history remembers this phase of the city’s leadership. Yours sincerely, Civic Opposition of India Citizen-led platform for urban governance and public accountability
1521