Bengaluru to get 10-lane tunnel under Lalbagh, but experts warn of ecological risks

Experts warn that this could pose a serious threat to Lalbagh Botanical Garden. (Image credit: @CitizenMattersX/X)

Bengaluru is planning a 16.5-km North–South underground vehicular tunnel, which will include 10 lanes built 50 to 100 feet beneath Lalbagh Botanical Garden, according to the detailed project report (DPR).

While two lanes, proposed as an entry ramp from Ashoka Pillar, will pass close to the Lalbagh lake before joining the main six-lane tunnel road towards Hebbal, another two-lane ramp, stretching 1.1 km, will pass directly beneath the garden’s 3-billion-year-old rock formation and emerge near the already busy traffic signal at Marigowda Junction on Siddapura Road, Deccan Herald reported.

However, experts warn that this could pose a serious threat to the garden, which is both ecologically sensitive and considered a city treasure.

Tejaswi Surya, MP for Bengaluru South termed the tunnel road project a disaster. “The state government’s decision to take over land for a tunnel road that is unscientific, unnecessary, unsafe and unlawful is deeply concerning,” Surya wrote in a post on X.

Tunnel Road will be a disaster for Bengaluru.

6 acres are earmarked for acquisition but the people of Bengaluru will not let even 6 inches of Lalbagh to be taken.

During my visit to Lalbagh yesterday, GBA officials refused to accompany us to show the proposed tunnel route under… pic.twitter.com/aj3TJPzbw7

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) October 13, 2025

The entire project requires 2.56 lakh square feet of land, or just over six acres. The design also includes a shaft inside Lalbagh, next to the rock formation, to lower the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which will travel 700 metres beneath the garden.

In month of May, the government-constituted expert committee had expressed serious concerns about the tunnel road's alignment, citing the ecological sensitivity of the region in Lalbagh. The committee recommended relocating the shaft elsewhere, but this recommendation has not yet been implemented.

Unlike Namma Metro’s Hebbal–Sarjapur line, which mostly runs under existing roads to minimise damage, this tunnel will go under Lalbagh as well as residential and commercial areas stretching from Central Silk Board to Hebbal.

A senior official from Bangalore Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) said the six acres needed would be used temporarily.

"A majority of the land will be restored and returned as it is. The shaft is proposed on barren land inside the garden, and there is no threat to the rock formation," he said, adding this is also the location where the Horticulture Department had earlier proposed a multi-level car parking facility.

However, environmentalists remain deeply concerned. Rajkumar Dugar, convener of Citizens for Citizens, urged the government to drop the project. He described Lalbagh as a “living museum of greenery” that is crucial for conservation, education, and recreation.

"The project will damage the entire ecosystem here, since the likelihood of irreversible and unacceptable harm is high. Trees will be cut. Apart from Lalbagh's flora and fauna, its soil, water, air, lake, and rock will all bear the brunt," DH quoted him as saying.