The MP interacted with the GBA officials and the daily walkers in the park, on Sunday, October 12, 2025.
Credit: DH Photo/ Pushkar V
Bengaluru: LS Tejasvi Surya, the Bangalore South MP, has sought a geological impact assessment study by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) for the 18-km Bengaluru tunnel road project.
The project, connecting Silk Board Junction with Hebbal, will use up 5.89 acres of the Lalbagh land, where a parking area had to be developed. The tunnel road will pass under the historic Kempegowda Tower and Peninsular Gneiss, a national geological monument believed to be about 3 billion years old.
On Sunday, Surya visited the Lalbagh Botanical Garden and questioned the officers of the Greater Bengaluru Authority regarding the project's environmental impact assessment and public opinion. An official representing the GSI and the public informed that no consultations were held.
The GBA official present argued that the project will not require an environmental assessment as the project is under the city development category.
“All the trees in the marked area are about four years old; we will transplant them elsewhere,” said the GBA official.
Speaking to the media, Surya said, “The BMRCL also has a project here, but they are doing it without affecting the atmosphere. This tunnel project is a disaster.”
After the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse, it is mandatory for the Environmental Impact Assessment to be conducted before the construction of tunnels, especially projects near places of national importance, but here no such assessments have been done, added Surya.
Countering Congress's allegations that the BJP is against development, Surya said that development would mean fast-tracking the pending metro line, adding more trains, and completing the pending flyovers at Hosakerehalli and Ejipura.
While MP insisted that GBA officials join him at the Peninsula Gneiss, they declined. Surya said the officials were not cooperating and said their reaction was the result of the "pressure" created by the state government.
Surya told DH that no more meetings would be held with the government. “Two years ago, I met Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and requested him to drop the tunnel road plan, but they have not. I will put up a board in the park for people to voice their concerns about the project,” he said.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition has also been filed by the MP’s office.
Ravishankar, a daily visitor to Lalbagh, said, “They should look for an alternative measure. The tunnel road is not an option. It is a 300 300-million-year-old stone. We do not know what is beneath it, what if the rock collapses. It is unnecessary and dangerous.”
Several visitors opined that instead of the tunnel, the government should focus on filling potholes with the right measures and expediting metro projects.
“The tunnel project is only for people with cars in a city where the majority uses public transportation. Simple norms of assessments have not been taken. Future generations will curse if this project continues,” said Satya Arikutharam, an urban mobility expert and a visitor.
Shivakumar promised on Saturday that the project would not affect Lalbagh and no trees would be cut.