Budget makes no mention of tunnel roads, govt opts for more white-topped roads instead

BENGALURU: While tunnel roads, connecting the different corners of the city, were mooted to ease traffic congestion, the state budget for 2023-24, presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, makes no mention of it. The idea was proposed by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

The Deputy CM, who is incharge of Bengaluru development, is keen on reviving Brand Bengaluru and has been holding consultations with prominent citizens and others in this regard and one of the proposals mooted to ease traffic congestion in the city was to have 50 km tunnel roads in two phases at a cost of Rs 22,000 crore. Apart from this, Shivakumar has also been talking about waste management and potholed roads.

Deputy CM D K Shivakumar goes through the budget document as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presents his budget in the Assembly on Friday.

However, the budget makes mention of only white-topping of 100 km roads at a cost of Rs 800 crore and developing 83 km of high density corridors for which Rs 273 crore has been allocated. Several roads in the city have already been white-topped as they are believed to not develop potholes and last longer. But this does little to ease traffic congestion.

Developing tunnel roads were expected to take five years, whereas white-topping of roads can be completed in 3-4 months. However, fresh white-topping works in the city are expected to create problems for motorists.