Bengaluru: The state govt's perceived haste in pushing through its hobbyhorses like the tunnel road and skydeck projects without public consultation has upset many Bengalureans. Some of them have now begun an online signature campaign opposing the two major projects, which have already received cabinet approval.
The campaign, which started less than a week ago on Change.org, has already collected over 350 signatures, moving closer to the currently available slot of 500. The organisers plan to scale up the signatures to 5,000 in phases.
The tunnel road is a six-lane, 18km underground tunnel that will connect Hebbal in the north to Central Silk Board in the south of Bengaluru. The proposed 250-metre-high skydeck is estimated to cost Rs 500 crore and is slated to come up at Hemmigepura in south Benglauru.
The petition highlights that the Rs 16,500-crore tunnel road project benefits just around 3% of the state's population, as there are 23 lakh private car owners in Bengaluru out of Karnataka's approximate population of 7 crore.
The petition questions the need to satisfy the whims and status-consciousness of this small segment of the population when the entire backward Kalyana Karnataka is hardly allocated Rs 3,000 crore a year, and even that isn't spent fully annually.
Kathyayini Chamaraj, an active citizen who started the signature campaign, told TOI: "Though already there are many opinion pieces and IISc (Indian Institute of Science) reports on how these projects aren't in the interest of Bengaluru, I feel unless there is pressure from citizens, our politicians and policymakers don't really bother. That's how this signature campaign idea came up. The main reason for us to take up such steps is the lack of public consultations and zero public involvement in these projects by the govt. According to the law, for any policy decisions and developmental projects, the govt must hold public consultation."
Kathyayini said there are plans to organise public meetings, expert talks, and human chains to loop in more citizens to voice Bengalureans' opposition to the projects.
The petition, referring to the difficulties in tunnelling, asks if the govt has considered the geological impacts of the project. Experts have raised several major challenges posed by it: The geological complexities of Bengaluru with its hard rocks, fissures, and water tables make tunnelling difficult; there are concerns over sinkholes and landslides increasing, potentially affecting tunnel structural integrity; and disruptions in groundwater flow.
Sundaravadanam VD, a signatory, commented, "This fund can be better utilised for improving the public transport system. This project is likely to take years, during which time there will definitely be disruption of traffic in many places. The running cost of maintaining the tunnel clean, removing waterlogging, etc., will be prohibitive."
What signatories want
* Focus on water crisis, groundwater depletion, and preventing flooding during heavy rain
* Developing tier 2 & 3 cities to stop migration to bigger cities
* Improving solid waste management by having more compost bins instead of transporting garbage to faraway landfills
* Spending more on public transport, investing in Metro and buses
* Disincentivizing private car usage
(Source: Comments section of the petition on Change.org)