NGT issues notices to Karnataka govt, agencies over flaws in 19,000 crore Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Road project

BENGALURU: The National Green Tribunal started hearings on Bengalurus most talked about Twin Tunnel Road project. At the first hearing on Wednesday, the NGT ruled that notices be served to the Karnataka government, BBMP (now Greater Bengaluru Authority), Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), B-SMILE, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, and the project consultants. The petition was filed by Bengaluru Praja Vedike and others two weeks ago, to draw attention to flaws in the tunnel road project. The NGT posted the next hearing to November 3. The petitioners submitted to the NGT that in May 2024, the state government had hastily announced the Twin Tunnel Road project in the budget, without any credible technical assessment or support in the Comprehensive Mobility Plan 2020. They said the proposal is politically driven and despite two failed expressions of interest, was later retrofitted into a feasibility study through procedural manoeuvring. The petitioners also submitted that on May 22, 2025, the cabinet approved the construction of a 16.74km twin-tube tunnel from Hebbal to Silk Board, at an estimated cost of Rs 19,000 crore, under the Build-Operate-Transfer model. A Special Purpose Vehicle called Bangalore Smart Infrastructure Ltd. (B-SMILE) was created and Rodic Consultants prepared the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in three months.. The DPR is riddled with factual errors, incomplete annexures and omissions of essential studies such as site-specific geological surveys, hydrological and flood-risk mapping, biodiversity assessment and tree enumeration. Traffic modelling excludes major vehicle categories, underestimates emissions and still admits that key junctions will remain congested, the petitioners stated. Further, the alignment passes through ecologically sensitive and legally protected areas, including the Peninsular Gneiss at Lal Bagh, Hebbal Valleys storm water corridor and the critically polluted Peenya Industrial Area. These zones face high risk of groundwater depletion, soil instability and aggravated flooding, the petition read. The petitioners also cited reports by Indian Institute of Science that the project will cause a shift from public to private transport and increase emissions, and that the Directorate of Urban Land Transport had confirmed that the project contradicted Bengalurus approved mobility and climate policies. The agencies had bypassed the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), ignored public consultation and relied on a technicality that tunnels are not explicitly listed under the EIA notification 2006, though the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had recently mandated that all tunnel road projects must obtain environmental clearance, they pointed out. The projects redundancy underscores the proposed Metro corridor along the same alignment which offers more sustainable, easily accessible, inclusive and environmental alternative, the petition stated.