The divisional bench composed of the main judge of Vibhu Bakhr and the Justice cm Joshi approved an order for the petition filed by the Adikesaval Ravindra and the other two. | Photo Credit: Allen Egenus J.
On Thursday, the High Court in Karnataka sought to respond to the State Government to the Pil petition, which challenged the proposed Tunnel Road project and called for the construction of tunnel roads from Hebbal to the Central Silk Board intersection, with eight inputs and eight output points.
The divisional bench composed of the main judge of Vibhu Bakhr and the Justice cm Joshi approved an order for the petition filed by the Adikesaval Ravindra and the other two.
The petitioners claimed that the project was advanced without the legal evaluation of its economic viability, an impact on social and environmental or constitutional validity.
The petition was declared that the detailed report of the project (DPR) was prepared in a hurry and suffered from a glaring factual inaccuracy, including the absence of a locally specific geological, hydrological and biological diversity and a defective transport model that excludes two-round and auto-ricks, which make up 70% of city vehicles.
“The tunnel project assumes the storage of exaggerated tolls, exclusively on cars, with the dedicated bus lanes abandoning as ordered in the comprehensive Mater plan and the privilege of private use of the car, creating an elite discrimination highway,” contrary to Article 14 India.
The project deliberately bypasses a mandatory requirement for environmental impact (EIA) and previous environmental permits under the 1986 Act (protection) and the project was “artificially” classified as “exempt” from these environmental laws because it is a tunnel and not on the highway.
The petitioners also argued that the promotion of the project without the approval of the Metropolitan Office for Ground Transport Bengalur and Bengalur of Metropolitan Planning Committee is constituting and statorically wicked.
Published – September 2025 22:19
