Decision Makers:
1. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
2. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dk Shivakumar
3. Ministry of Urban Development, Karnataka
4. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
5. Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA)
6. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL)
Demands:
Scrap all ad-hoc infrastructure projects that do not align with Bengaluru’s sustainable urban mobility goals
Implement city-wide measures to address Bengaluru’s worsening Urban Heat Island Effect and water scarcity crisis.
Conduct BBMP elections with immediate affect and make Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) operational
Use the funds to construct rainwater storage tunnels
Expand public transport and make it affordable and accessible to ensure 75% usage
Promote sustainable mobility solutions like buses, suburban rail, walkability, and cycling to reduce congestion
Implement measures like congestion taxes, parking fees, and restrictions on multiple car ownership
Focus on developing tier-2 and tier-3 cities to ensure balanced regional development and prevent concentration of economic opportunities in tier-1 cities.
Allocate funds to improve public healthcare and education for all 7 crore residents of Karnataka
Use funds for local waste composting and processing centers rather than transporting garbage to distant areas
What’s the issue?
Bengaluru is on the verge of breakdown! The government has proposed a ₹1 lakh crore urban infrastructure plan, centered around a controversial tunnel road and a series of double-decker flyovers, underpasses and elevated corridors. Taxpayers like you and I will have no choice but to bear the burden of these projects for generations while being in the wake of worsening public transport infrastructure, air pollution and gridlocked traffic! All of these projects fail to address the root cause of Bengaluru’s congestion troubles – excessive dependence on private vehicles!
If the projects continue, our city will become an endless construction site for the next 61 months! Roads have already begun to be dug up, traffic is a nightmare and dust and noise fills the air. Citizens will be forced to pay for a project that caters to a minority of the population.
Bengaluru is already facing the Urban Heat Island Effect, with concrete structures trapping heat making the city much hotter than its surroundings. This summer, Bengaluru is projected to be even hotter than Delhi, with temperatures already soaring beyond 35 degree celsius with summer still a few days away. This will be compounded by the city’s chronic and acute water crisis. Excessive concretisation reduces natural water percolation, depleting aquifers that act as natural sponges. Pollution levels are set to rise as construction dust, vehicular emissions, and loss of tree cover degrade air quality. At this rate of unchecked development, Bengaluru will transform into a concrete jungle.
Flyovers, underpasses, and elevated corridors have, in the past, failed to reduce congestion in Indian cities due to induced demand which means more roads lead to more cars, more traffic, and eventually, more pollution and worsening commute time.
No details have been given on how these projects align with a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), raising concerns about a lack of long-term urban planning and accountability. The CMP lays emphasis on mass transit solutions like metro expansion, suburban rail, and bus rapid transit to reduce congestion. The above proposed projects go against this.
The government has plans to borrow this massive amount of money, which means that it will be recovered through tolls, increased taxation, and years of debt repayment. Bengaluru’s citizens will not only pay higher road tolls (INR 330 each way on the tunnel road), but may also potentially see cuts in funding for essential services like schools, and hospitals. Public infrastructure will suffer because a major chunk of the state budget will go toward repaying this loan.
Bengaluru’s traffic congestion may also be attributed to the lack of operationalisation of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) despite being enacted in 2023. The necessary rules have not been framed, and key appointments are pending, preventing it from coordinating urban transport planning.
These projects will cause a major blow to Bengaluru’s tree cover! A staggering ₹65 crore has been allocated just to cut the trees that come in the way of these projects. The authorities have no regard for the environment. This will exacerbate the city’s depleting water resources, air crisis and rising temperatures!
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Tunnel road is marred with flaws, raising further questions. Above all, these projects violate the 74th Constitutional Amendment that makes it mandatory to hold a public consultation. Bengaluru lacks an elected BBMP at present.
If we allow this project to move forward, Bengaluru will become a city of nightmares. It will enter into a decade of congestion, pollution, and economic distress, where private vehicle ownership will skyrocket while public transport will remain neglected.
Instead of fixing last-mile connectivity, making Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation more efficient, or reducing fares to make public transport more accessible, our government is sinking funds into unsustainable infrastructure that will only worsen this urban nightmare. We cannot allow this to happen.
Sources
Decision Makers:
1. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
2. Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dk Shivakumar
3. Ministry of Urban Development, Karnataka
4. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
5. Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA)
6. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL)
Demands:
Scrap all ad-hoc infrastructure projects that do not align with Bengaluru’s sustainable urban mobility goals
Implement city-wide measures to address Bengaluru’s worsening Urban Heat Island Effect and water scarcity crisis.
Conduct BBMP elections with immediate affect and make Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) operational
Use the funds to construct rainwater storage tunnels
Expand public transport and make it affordable and accessible to ensure 75% usage
Promote sustainable mobility solutions like buses, suburban rail, walkability, and cycling to reduce congestion
Implement measures like congestion taxes, parking fees, and restrictions on multiple car ownership
Focus on developing tier-2 and tier-3 cities to ensure balanced regional development and prevent concentration of economic opportunities in tier-1 cities.
Allocate funds to improve public healthcare and education for all 7 crore residents of Karnataka
Use funds for local waste composting and processing centers rather than transporting garbage to distant areas
What’s the issue?
Bengaluru is on the verge of breakdown! The government has proposed a ₹1 lakh crore urban infrastructure plan, centered around a controversial tunnel road and a series of double-decker flyovers, underpasses and elevated corridors. Taxpayers like you and I will have no choice but to bear the burden of these projects for generations while being in the wake of worsening public transport infrastructure, air pollution and gridlocked traffic! All of these projects fail to address the root cause of Bengaluru’s congestion troubles – excessive dependence on private vehicles!
If the projects continue, our city will become an endless construction site for the next 61 months! Roads have already begun to be dug up, traffic is a nightmare and dust and noise fills the air. Citizens will be forced to pay for a project that caters to a minority of the population.
Bengaluru is already facing the Urban Heat Island Effect, with concrete structures trapping heat making the city much hotter than its surroundings. This summer, Bengaluru is projected to be even hotter than Delhi, with temperatures already soaring beyond 35 degree celsius with summer still a few days away. This will be compounded by the city’s chronic and acute water crisis. Excessive concretisation reduces natural water percolation, depleting aquifers that act as natural sponges. Pollution levels are set to rise as construction dust, vehicular emissions, and loss of tree cover degrade air quality. At this rate of unchecked development, Bengaluru will transform into a concrete jungle.
Flyovers, underpasses, and elevated corridors have, in the past, failed to reduce congestion in Indian cities due to induced demand which means more roads lead to more cars, more traffic, and eventually, more pollution and worsening commute time.
No details have been given on how these projects align with a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP), raising concerns about a lack of long-term urban planning and accountability. The CMP lays emphasis on mass transit solutions like metro expansion, suburban rail, and bus rapid transit to reduce congestion. The above proposed projects go against this.
The government has plans to borrow this massive amount of money, which means that it will be recovered through tolls, increased taxation, and years of debt repayment. Bengaluru’s citizens will not only pay higher road tolls (INR 330 each way on the tunnel road), but may also potentially see cuts in funding for essential services like schools, and hospitals. Public infrastructure will suffer because a major chunk of the state budget will go toward repaying this loan.
Bengaluru’s traffic congestion may also be attributed to the lack of operationalisation of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) despite being enacted in 2023. The necessary rules have not been framed, and key appointments are pending, preventing it from coordinating urban transport planning.
These projects will cause a major blow to Bengaluru’s tree cover! A staggering ₹65 crore has been allocated just to cut the trees that come in the way of these projects. The authorities have no regard for the environment. This will exacerbate the city’s depleting water resources, air crisis and rising temperatures!
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Tunnel road is marred with flaws, raising further questions. Above all, these projects violate the 74th Constitutional Amendment that makes it mandatory to hold a public consultation. Bengaluru lacks an elected BBMP at present.
If we allow this project to move forward, Bengaluru will become a city of nightmares. It will enter into a decade of congestion, pollution, and economic distress, where private vehicle ownership will skyrocket while public transport will remain neglected.
Instead of fixing last-mile connectivity, making Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation more efficient, or reducing fares to make public transport more accessible, our government is sinking funds into unsustainable infrastructure that will only worsen this urban nightmare. We cannot allow this to happen.
Sources