BBMP: ‘Tunnel Road’ not raised from DPR

 Traffic not smooth, city not attractive under ‘Brand Bengaluru’

 BBMP: ‘Tunnel Road’ not raised from DPR

Kere Manjunath ಕೆರೆ ಮಂಜುನಾಥ್

Bengaluru: The ‘underground road’ project, which was announced in the state budget even before the BBMP budget, and is an alternative way to smooth traffic, costing thousands of crores, has not yet been raised from the detailed project report (DPR).

In the first month of the Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah coming to power, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar had said, ‘If smooth traffic is to be possible in the city, the only solution is a ‘underground road’, it will be ready once it is built.’ However, even after saying this, the project has not come out of the DPR even after a year and a half.

D.K., who is also the Bangalore Urban Development Minister, Shivakumar had given deadlines that tenders would be invited for the ‘tunnel road’ project from Hebbal to the Silk Board by September 2024, December 2024 and by the end of February 2025. However, BBMP’s Engineer in Chief B.S. Prahlad, who is leading the project, has not yet finalized the DPR. A firm that had prepared the DPR had also included the sheets of the Mumbai project and given it to the corporation. The engineers had also given an explanation that it was just one sheet.

‘Sugama Sanchar Bengaluru’ was given first priority in the BBMP budget under the concept of ‘Brand Bengaluru’. It was decided to allocate ₹800 crore and acquire means to make traffic smooth. The BBMP has only achieved so far by getting a feasibility report of Rs 54,000 crore for constructing 16 flyovers, including tunnels, under the ‘Bengaluru Integrated Traffic Management Project’. Although a detailed report has been given, there are allegations that BBMP engineers are wasting time and money by calling it a DPR.

Pink Room: Under the concept of ‘Attractive Bengaluru’, the BBMP budget had said that ‘pink rooms’ would be built for women at malls and bus stands, providing facilities for napkins and rest. The pink rooms have survived in the budget book, which was printed in colour.

It was said that electric lights would be installed at flyovers, underpasses and road junctions to make them attractive. LED lights were lit only at Hudson Circle during ‘Invest Karnataka’ and ‘Aero-India Air Show’. Later, they also disappeared.

Unable to identify the location for ‘Skydeck’!

The BBMP had announced in the budget that it would build a world-class 250-meter-high ‘Skydeck’ that would become an attractive destination for Bengaluru city. Although this was proposed even before the budget, engineers have not been able to identify the location for the ‘Skydeck’.

BBMP officials are saying that due to the delay in identifying the location for the construction of the second airport in Bengaluru, the locations identified in the south and north for the ‘Skydeck’ have not been finalized. Citizens keep complaining that BBMP officials, who have prepared ‘ready-made excuses’ for the delay of every project, are also responsible for the delay in the flyover works that have been going on for many years.

‘Brand Bangalore’ projects announced in the 2024-25 budget

₹880 crore – Smooth Traffic Bengaluru

₹300 crore for road white topping

₹100 crore for Rajakaluve buffer zone development

₹50 crore for road widening as per RMP

₹50 crore for road construction as per RMP

₹200 crore for tunnel road project DPR

₹30 crore for Padarayanapura road widening

₹100 crore for combined metro-road flyover route (double decker road)

₹50 crore for circular pedestrian flyover at Banashankari Circle

₹225 crore – Attractive Bengaluru

• ₹100 crore for coloured lights at important city landmarks
• ₹25 crore for beautification of junctions
• ₹50 crore for initial project cost of sky-deck construction
• ₹50 crore Funds for Kempegowda Development Authority

Not ‘Brand’, but ‘Pothole Bangalore’

‘The budget was divided in the name of Brand Bangalore. Out of the money allocated in this, ₹40 crore has been released for Detailed Project Report (DPR) and advisory reports. Apart from this, no other work has been done. Although ₹250 crore has been allocated in the grant of the District In-charge Minister, approval has been given for works worth ₹365 crore. But these works have not started yet. They have only given flowers to the ears of the people of the city in the name of ‘Brand Bangalore’. No works have been implemented. They have not even repaired the potholes on the roads, but have called ‘Brand Bangalore’ ‘Pothole Bangalore’. ₹367 crore has been spent per km to build tunnel roads in the highest altitude areas of Leh and Ladakh. But BBMP is going to spend more than ₹850 crore per km. They are now carrying out the work of the white-topping project that was approved in 2022-23,’ said former BBMP ruling party leader N.R. Ramesh.

Budget is a continuous process: Harish

‘Budget is a manual of the projects we undertake in a year. Mega projects are not completed in a single year. If the initial cost is shown in the first year, the money allocated for them is announced in the subsequent budgets. It is not possible to complete huge projects that will last for about five years this year,’ said Harish Kumar, Special commissioner, finance department of BBMP.