Skeletons tumble out of Bengaluru tunnel road project reports, BBMP left red-faced

Additionally, many figures in the feasibility report were reportedly copied from the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) prepared by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport and Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) in 2020. The CMP projected a 63 percent public transport mode share, but the tunnel project’s feasibility report inflated this to 68 percent.

“BBMP’s feasibility report overstates the public transport share despite the fact that tunnel roads are meant to encourage more private vehicles,” said Satya Arikutharam, a public transport activist. The report also contains ambiguous statements. One section(page 472) reads, “This level of service is as per feasibility. Do we need to update / verify it as per our traffic output files?”

“This kind of inconsistency undermines BBMP’s credibility,” said Arikutharam, adding that the DPR and feasibility reports also show different daily traffic counts at nine junctions. “The tunnel road DPR selectively inflates traffic volumes compared to the feasibility report,” he said, and added that BBMP's tunnel road feasibility report includes sections taken from the DPR, which was prepared at a later stage.

Also, read: Bengaluru traffic: IISc bats for Inner Ring underground Metro over DKS’ tunnel road plan

BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.

Ashish Verma, Professor, Transportation Systems Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, told Moneycontrol: "It sounds like a planning scam. The whole report seems to have been done in a hurry, without due diligence. It’s hard to rely on or believe the data they have produced, especially after noticing so many glaring errors. In the feasibility report, I also noticed several copy-paste errors, which we will soon publish," Verma added.

Many activists have criticised the civic body for unilaterally pushing the tunnel road project. "There is a CMP, but suddenly, a tunnel road project is floated out of the blue. This completely disregards ongoing efforts to promote public transport projects. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) Act has been passed, but the authority has not been constituted yet," said Dattatreya Devare, Trustee, Bangalore Environment Trust.

He said the project also needs the approval of the Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC). "But the MPC exists only on paper because BBMP council elections have not taken place. As a result, the MPC lacks elected representatives, making it a truncated body. The MPC is supposed to take decisions on such projects, but it has been inactive," said Devare.

Tunnelling in Bengaluru is complex

He said that tunnelling in Bengaluru is no joke. “Bengaluru Metro project faced significant delays due to tunnelling challenges. Tunnelling is a complex technology, and BBMP does not have civil engineering contractors with the necessary experience to handle such a project, especially in an urban area. Starting with an 18-km tunnel as the first phase, costing around Rs 16,000 crore, is a very ad hoc and poorly thought-out decision," added Devare.

Rajkumar Dugar, Founder and Convenor of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), raised serious concerns about the project, calling it a poorly planned and technically challenging endeavour. “This is a first-of-its-kind project in Bengaluru, requiring extensive studies, data collection, and thorough planning. However, glaring mistakes in the reports, flagged by citizens rather than BBMP, highlight significant lapses in responsibility. If such a critical project is mismanaged, it could lead to severe consequences. For example, BBMP struggled with a 20-metre underpass where a 22-year-old woman tragically lost her life. How can we trust them to manage a 16.8-kilometer tunnel?” he asked.

Also, read: Bengaluru Metro completes tunnelling work on city’s longest underground section

Dugar added, “The claim that no trees will be cut is false — Rs 65 crore has been allocated for tree-cutting. Land acquisition is also inevitable for the ramps. Instead of reducing congestion, this project will worsen it by encouraging private vehicles and creating complicated U-turns. Moreover, 90 percent of the tunnel lies within 500 metres to 1 km of metro phase 3 (Hebbal- Sarjapur), raising questions about its necessity.”

He also criticised the lack of public consultation and transparency, calling for a complete overhaul of the project. “Better alternatives exist. BBMP must instil confidence in citizens and ensure accountability before proceeding with such a critical project,” he said.

Maharashtra locations in Bengaluru project

BBMP imposed a Rs 5 lakh penalty on Rodic Consultants after the DPR's executive summary mistakenly included locations from Maharashtra — Malegaon and Nashik —instead of Karnataka in a chart on traffic volume counts (Table 15, page 29).

Following Moneycontrol’s report, Rodic Consultants issued a letter stating they were investigating the error and would take action against those responsible.

Commissioner Nath admitted to the mistake, attributing it to a compiling error while transitioning from a combined DPR for the north-south and east-west corridors to one focussing solely on the north-south Corridor. “The error occurred in table 15 of the executive summary, but all other chapters remain consistent,” he clarified.

Also, read: Copy-paste fiasco: Bengaluru civic body slaps Rs 5-lakh penalty on Rodic Consultants for tunnel road DPR