Bengaluru Clears Rs 420 Bn Silk Board鈥揌ebbal Tunnel Plan
The 16.68-kilometre tunnel road planned between Central Silk Board and Hebbal, near Esteem Mall, will run some 36 metres (120 feet) below ground. Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), the special-purpose vehicle set up for major projects, will open the two-package tender within days after receiving state finance clearance on 9 June.
Advanced tunnel-boring machines will drive the four-year build, and cars will pay a toll initially set at Rs 19 per kilometre鈥攁bout Rs 320 for a full journey鈥攖hough the tariff may rise with inflation and final cost. B-SMILE director B S Prahallad insisted surface buildings would remain safe but acknowledged that 鈥渟ome borewell points may be impacted鈥�; groundwater belongs to the state, he added.
Total investment is estimated at about Rs 420 billion, including Rs 8 billion for land. Critics, however, question the economics. Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan warned that taxpayers face a Rs 71 billion subsidy and Rs 107 billion in state-backed loans, asking why private capital 鈥渟tays away鈥� if the scheme is viable. Congestion at tunnel exits and higher pollution are 鈥渋nevitable鈥�, he claimed.
Geologists, meanwhile, fear tunnelling could disturb natural dykes and fracture zones that feed borewells. Former Bengaluru University professor T J Renuka Prasad cautioned that miscalculations might destabilise the tunnel or alter aquifer flows, potentially affecting metro corridors.
Despite the controversy, Chief Minister-led planners argue the project will ease chronic gridlock on surface roads and form a backbone for future smart-mobility networks across the Karnataka capital.