<p>Bengaluru: A total of 10 lanes – similar to those on an expressway – have been proposed to be built about 50 to 100 feet beneath the Lalbagh Botanical Garden as part of the 16.5-km North–South underground vehicular tunnel, according to the detailed project report (DPR).</p>.<p>This is expected to pose a serious threat to the garden, which is not just an ecologically sensitive zone but also considered a jewel of Bengaluru.</p>.<p>While two lanes – proposed as an entry ramp from Ashoka Pillar – will pass close to the Lalbagh lake before joining the main six-lane tunnel road towards Hebbal, another two-lane ramp – stretching 1.1 km – will pass directly beneath the 3-billion-year-old rock formation inside Lalbagh before exiting just ahead of the already-congested traffic signal at Marigowda Junction on Siddapura Road.</p>.<p>In all, the project requires 2.56 lakh square feet of land (a little more than six acres). The plan also includes the construction of a shaft within the premises of Lalbagh (next to the rock) to lower the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which will travel for a length of 700 metres just below the garden.</p>.<p>In May this year, the government-constituted expert committee had expressed serious concerns about the tunnel road's alignment, citing the ecological sensitivity of the region in Lalbagh. The committee recommended relocating the shaft elsewhere, but this recommendation has not yet been implemented.</p>.<p>Unlike Namma Metro's Hebbal–Sarjapur line, which is proposed to run mostly beneath existing roads to reduce damage to property, the tunnel road alignment passes not only beneath the garden but also under residential and commercial areas from Central Silk Board to Hebbal.</p>.<p>A senior official from Bangalore Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) said the six acres needed for the tunnel road would be used temporarily.</p>.<p>"A majority of the land will be restored and returned as it is. The shaft is proposed on barren land inside the garden, and there is no threat to the rock formation," he said, adding this is also the location where the Horticulture Department had earlier proposed a multi-level car parking facility.</p>.<p>Urging the government to drop the project, Rajkumar Dugar, convener of Citizens for Citizens, described Lalbagh not just as a garden, but as a living museum of greenery, playing a vital role in conservation, education, and recreation.</p>.<p>"The project will damage the entire ecosystem here, since the likelihood of irreversible and unacceptable harm is high. Trees will be cut. Apart from Lalbagh's flora and fauna, its soil, water, air, lake, and rock will all bear the brunt," he said.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: A total of 10 lanes – similar to those on an expressway – have been proposed to be built about 50 to 100 feet beneath the Lalbagh Botanical Garden as part of the 16.5-km North–South underground vehicular tunnel, according to the detailed project report (DPR).</p>.<p>This is expected to pose a serious threat to the garden, which is not just an ecologically sensitive zone but also considered a jewel of Bengaluru.</p>.<p>While two lanes – proposed as an entry ramp from Ashoka Pillar – will pass close to the Lalbagh lake before joining the main six-lane tunnel road towards Hebbal, another two-lane ramp – stretching 1.1 km – will pass directly beneath the 3-billion-year-old rock formation inside Lalbagh before exiting just ahead of the already-congested traffic signal at Marigowda Junction on Siddapura Road.</p>.<p>In all, the project requires 2.56 lakh square feet of land (a little more than six acres). The plan also includes the construction of a shaft within the premises of Lalbagh (next to the rock) to lower the tunnel boring machine (TBM), which will travel for a length of 700 metres just below the garden.</p>.<p>In May this year, the government-constituted expert committee had expressed serious concerns about the tunnel road's alignment, citing the ecological sensitivity of the region in Lalbagh. The committee recommended relocating the shaft elsewhere, but this recommendation has not yet been implemented.</p>.<p>Unlike Namma Metro's Hebbal–Sarjapur line, which is proposed to run mostly beneath existing roads to reduce damage to property, the tunnel road alignment passes not only beneath the garden but also under residential and commercial areas from Central Silk Board to Hebbal.</p>.<p>A senior official from Bangalore Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE) said the six acres needed for the tunnel road would be used temporarily.</p>.<p>"A majority of the land will be restored and returned as it is. The shaft is proposed on barren land inside the garden, and there is no threat to the rock formation," he said, adding this is also the location where the Horticulture Department had earlier proposed a multi-level car parking facility.</p>.<p>Urging the government to drop the project, Rajkumar Dugar, convener of Citizens for Citizens, described Lalbagh not just as a garden, but as a living museum of greenery, playing a vital role in conservation, education, and recreation.</p>.<p>"The project will damage the entire ecosystem here, since the likelihood of irreversible and unacceptable harm is high. Trees will be cut. Apart from Lalbagh's flora and fauna, its soil, water, air, lake, and rock will all bear the brunt," he said.</p>