BJP slams tunnel network plan for Bengaluru, calls it 'environmental disaster'

BJP leader R Ashoka criticized Karnataka DCM DK Shivakumar for promoting a controversial tunnel project in Bengaluru, labeling it an environmental disaster.

BJP leader R Ashoka has strongly criticized Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s push for a new tunnel road in Bengaluru, denouncing the initiative as both an environmental catastrophe and a symbol of political arrogance and corruption.

Opposition leader R Ashoka. (PTI)

Key points of criticism

Ashoka accused the Congress-led state government of planning to carve a massive tunnel through several of Bengaluru’s most iconic and ecologically important areas, including:

- Lalbagh Botanical Garden

- Palace Grounds

- St John’s Hospital area

- Bengaluru Race Course

- Hebbal

The project reportedly involves boring 100-feet deep shafts to facilitate tunnel construction, which Ashoka described as not “urban mobility”, but "urban mutilation.”

Environmental and social concerns

Ashoka, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, argued that such “ego tunnels” only serve the interests of a select few, urging that the city needs clean air, preserved green spaces, and truly equitable public transport, rather than disruptive infrastructure that could irreparably damage the city’s character.

He described the plan as “environmental vandalism masquerading as infrastructure,” and claimed it constitutes a betrayal by Congress of a city already under environmental stress.

Allegations of political hypocrisy

Ashoka also questioned the silence of senior Congress leaders, specifically Rahul Gandhi, regarding the environmental impact of the project. He noted that the same leaders have previously opposed infrastructure developments on environmental grounds in other states but now remain quiet on a project promoted by their own party in Karnataka.

Read his post here:

He implied that this silence may be due to political convenience or worse, suggesting that “contracts, commissions, and legacy politics” could be influencing this lack of response.