The elevated corridor is not only unsustainable but will prove to be a hurdle for real solutions, says a new study on the controversial project which is being given a new lease of life by the BJP government.
Instead what Bengaluru needs is a metro rail corridor, said Professor Ashish Verma of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), quoting from a research paper published by scholars Harsha Vajjarapu and Hemanthini Allirani under his guidance.
The study — which has since won the Springer-Best paper award by IIT Roorkee — uses traffic data from the government documents, including the feasibility report for the project itself, to disprove the notion that such projects reduce congestion.
This data is projected to 2020 and 2030 under three different scenarios, which includes the existing transport infrastructure, a hypothetical elevated road corridor and a hypothetical metro-rail corridor on the same route.
Travelling Time
The study notes that the corridor would reduce the total travel time by an average of 8% if built in 2020, an unrealistic deadline.
By 2030, the benefit of reduction in travel time will slip to 5.3% and the downward slide will soon move to negative.
Whereas a metro corridor on the same route would reduce total travel time by at least 40%, and the benefit will only increase in the coming years when the increasing number of vehicles clog the roads, no matter how wide the carriageway is.
The 92.2-km road project did not win favourable scores on the environmental front either. The project would only reduce CO2 emission by 8% per capita in the next ten years.
This is about a third of the level of per capita CO2 reduction that could be achieved by a metro rail corridor, which stands at 29% this year and 26% by 2030.
Pollution impact
The study also predicts that the road corridor would increase particle matter (PM) pollution by 7% this year and up to 11% in 2030, whereas a metro rail corridor would see a reduction of PM pollution by 20% to 23% in the same ten-year period compared to current levels.
“The solutions are very clear. Proposals like inner ring metro line are more viable, long lasting and sustainable alternatives than the elevated corridor project,” Verma told DH.