Bengaluru: Bengaluru City incharge and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar who has envisaged urban tunnels to decongest Bengaluru City roads on Wednesday made an appeal to Union Minister for Finance Nirmala Sitaraman in New Delhi and sought requisite funds from the Central Government to make the planned project a reality which approximately comes to around Rs 30,000 crore.
He brought to the notice of the Union Finance Minister that urban tunnels have been planned for a distance of 60-km which will create East-West and North-South corridor within the Bengaluru City connecting major arterial roads and also bypass the surface traffic. As per the estimation done, a km of urban tunnel road would cost about Rs 500 crore.
Laying emphasis for urban tunnels, the Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister said the planned project will connect National Highway-7 and National Highway-4 and urban tunneling can be taken-up by the Karnataka government in collaboration with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and adequate funds be allotted to both Karnataka government and NHAI from the central budget.
Stating that urban tunnel roads have advantages over flyovers, Shivakumar told the Minister that integrated flyovers are often opposed due to their gigantic structure, need for tree/green cover removal, traffic diversion hurdles and land acquisition issues. While, urban tunnels will be underground, saving the surface space and aesthetics, reducing noise and air pollution, minimizing disruption and displacement.
The other demand put forth by the Deputy Chief Minister to the Union Finance Minister was to expedite the approval process and facilitate the release of funds from the World Bank for the Bengaluru City’s flood resilience projects.
He said, a proposal has been prepared based on the best practices suggested by global experts and the proposal for financial assistance amounting to Rs 3,000 crore has been submitted to the World Bank.
Shivakumar also appealed to Nirmala Sitaraman to support for availing approvals from the Central Government for the five corridors of Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) covering a distance of 129-km. The 5 extensions of Metro Rail, he said, will connect the peripheral areas and the satellite towns of Bengaluru and cater to the increasing demand for public transport.
