Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Senior BJP leader R Ashoka, who is an Opposition leader in the Assembly, took a dig at the BBMP’s tunnel road project, stating that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar’s Brand Bengaluru is a “bounty for the cronies of the Karnataka Congress and friendly infra companies”.
Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya also raised his voice against the project on social media.
The reaction follows DH’s article titled ‘Tunnel road: BBMP to spend Rs 9.45 cr on DPR alone’. The article, dated September 4, had compared the cost of similar work taken up by Namma Metro, which was six times lower, costing just Rs 1.58 crore.
“The stink starts right from a big fat DPR, costing 9.45 Cr for 18 km Tunnel Road,” Surya posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The project itself, which is expected to cost Rs 600 cr per km, is thrice of what a kilometre of Metro typically costs. Must find out the potential infracon beneficiaries of this project, since people are clearly not going to benefit from this project.”
Mohan Dasari of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also suspected irregularities in the project.
Other than the political reactions, many netizens also expressed shock over the BBMP’s estimates. “This govt rode to power on 40% commission of the previous government, today this govt inflates the project costs by five times,” NammaBengaluroo, a popular social media handle with over 40,000 followers on X, reacted to the news.
BS Prahlad, Engineer-in-Chief of BBMP, stated that metro prices for the Detailed Project Report (DPR) cannot be compared to those of tunnel roads.
“Metro projects are well-established in Bengaluru, whereas tunnel roads are new. We are constructing a 14.5-meter diameter underground road, which is the first of its kind in the country. This requires significant technical expertise and new learning. As we expand the tunnel road project to other areas, the cost of the DPR will decrease,” he said.
“Fervent appeal to Dy CM DK Shivakumar and CM Siddaramaiah to drop the tunnel road project which is against Bengaluru’s interests. Kindly focus on faster, better, cheaper, safer, simpler, tried and tested options such as bus, metro, suburban rail, walkability, cyclability etc to improve quality of living for all,” Rajukumar Dugar of Citizens for Citizens posted.