Bengaluru: Having already tried an elevated solution for the city's burgeoning traffic with the Metro Rail, the government is now planning to dig deep to ease the congestion on its roads. The plan is to create tunnel roads, allowing vehicles to run underground, giving the congested roads above a miss. A six member delegation from ISA West Construction, a Bulgarian infrastructure company, which has experience in building tunnel roads, has made a presentation on construction of tunnels in the city, according to official sources.
The delegation reportedly did a recce with senior government officials to identify a few locations for the tunnels and also took the Namma Metro to help in its search. At the end of it, it identified four possible locations for the project: from Hebbal to Anugraha, the Chief Minister's official residence, covering a distance of six kilometers, from Goragunte Palya to Peenya, from Nayandahalli junction to Majestic (ending at Shantala Silks or mini Lalbagh) and from Jalahalli to Goragunte Palya. Bengaluru Development Minister, K. J. George has asked the delegates to prepare a feasibility report, reveal sources. The cost of the tunnel roads and the financial modules will be discussed once the plan is approved, they add. Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM), already used by Namma Metro, could be used to build the tunnel roads as well. While traffic is unlikely to be be affected while the tunnelling is in progress, it is believed there could be some disruption at the entry and exit points of the tunnels.
