The Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued a notice seeking a response from the Government to a petition filed by Bengaluru residents against the tender and other aspects of the proposed three-lane underground twin tunnel road from Hebbal Esteem Mall Junction to Silk Board KSRP Junction.
A global tender for the tunnel project was floated in July, with the project cost estimated at Rs 17,698 crore, excluding Goods and Services Tax. While extensively promoted by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, the project has come in for extensive criticism from diverse parties ranging from the Opposition to environmentalists and urban mobility experts.
The matter was heard by a bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Joshi.
The petition calls for quashing the tender notification for the twin tunnel project issued in July as well as the detailed project report (DPR) from December last year. It also calls for the quashing of a 2024 letter from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority that said the project did not need environmental clearance.
Among a series of other prayers, the petition also calls for the State to be restrained from taking any steps to execute the project without environmental impact assessment, mobility planning, etc, while also stating the necessity of an independent multidisciplinary expert committee to assess the project’s impact and the feasibility.
Alongside its other contentions, the petition argues that that the DPR was prepared in undue haste and riddled with inaccuracies while also lacking geological and hydrological surveys of the sites. It further argues that the traffic model excluded two-wheelers and autorickshaws, which make up 70 per cent of Bangalore traffic.
While expressing concerns about the lack of approval from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority and the lack of scrutiny the Bengaluru Metropolitan Planning Committee, the petition also states that the project violates the “public trust doctrine” under Article 21 of the Constitution, as scarce public resources would be spent on a car-centric facility that would privilege affluent sections while harming the city financially and ecologically.
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The petition also highlights potential issues from the tunnel road project such as threats to aquifers, storm-water drains, and floodplains, as well as a risk of tree loss and an impact on urban heat.
The matter is set for further hearing on December 9.