It has been made official by Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar that a 190-km-long tunnel will be constructed in Bengaluru to ease traffic congestion in the city. Public tenders will be invited within 45 days for the mega infrastructure project.
The very length of the tunnel, Netizens say, makes it unwieldy and a non-starter. "Bangalore is pretty much all rock. The reason the Metro has made slow progress is because the tunnel boring machines break down so often. Instead of a 195-km tunnel for roads, just make the same tunnels for Metro lines," wrote Arun Krishnan. "The tunnel vision will be disastrous. Smoke-filled tunnels will get flooded after 15 minutes of rain. Already, a few incidents have happened where people got trapped in flooded underpasses. Will have zero effect on reducing traffic," wrote Agent Saffron, an anti-car activist.
The proposal has spawned a wave of dark humour as well. "Now instead of experiencing hour-long traffic jams on roads, you get to experience it in a 190-km long tunnel with Dolby surround sound (echo). During rains, if you are lucky, it may even flood and then you can enjoy kayaking for free," quipped Me. Melancholy.
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