Watch: Mega projects in Bengaluru: are they worth it?

A 250-metre skydeck, 17 elevated, signal-free corridors, 73 km Bengaluru Business Corridor (BBC), twin tube tunnels and more. There is no end to the flurry of ambitious civic infrastructure projects being proposed in Bengaluru. While the projects are aimed at easing the chaos in the IT city and taking us closer to the shiny vision of ‘Brand Bengaluru’, how viable are these plans? Which of these projects are really the need of the hour in Bengaluru?

Decongestion and management of Bengaluru’s infamous traffic were among the key focus areas of the 2024-25 Karnataka Budget. While the Budget suggested the implementation of big-ticket projects for this purpose, it did not however propose any allocation for them.

While the ideas are futuristic and ambitious, citizens have seen many such infrastructure and mobility projects either be prolonged endlessly or never see the light of day due to perennial issues of funding, land acquisition and poor planning.

The city is dotted with stalled flyovers, underpasses, and signal-free corridors that have only done more harm than good by increasing bottlenecks and inconveniencing commuters. The Hindu even ran a series called Stuck in the Middle with ground reports from many such choke points in Bengaluru.

So, given the history of haphazard planning and implementation, does the sprawling metropolis need more projects to add to its woes?

To discuss this, we are joined today by Srinivas Alavilli, who works on Sustainable Cities and Transport with WRI India.

Script and presentation: Nalme Nachiyar

Video and production: Ravichandran N.