Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar (DKS) on Wednesday, speaking of Bengaluru’s traffic nightmare, sparked a controversy when he said, “Bengaluru can’t be changed in two or three years. Even God can’t do that. It can be changed only when proper planning is done and executed well.”

DKS is correct, God cannot fix Bengaluru’s traffic problems. It’s not God’s job. But it is his Government’s job. That is why the inscription on the Vidhana Soudha reads “Government Work is God’s Work.”  

Yet, it seems that instead of undertaking this sacred duty, politicians have embarked on projects that often resemble more of an ungodly diversion than a genuine solution. Take, for example, the ambitious underground road project announced in 2023. 

The Deputy CM had said the Government would float a global tender within 45 days to construct nearly 190 kilometres of tunnel roads in Bengaluru — a vision seemingly borrowed from Singapore’s now defunct infrastructure playbook.

 We should be a worried lot. Although  at first glance, the idea of sleek, subterranean highways may strike one as innovative. However, a closer look reveals a slew of practical challenges.

 We are still grappling with building efficient, well-maintained roads on the surface. How, then, can we confidently engineer an elaborate network of tunnels beneath the city? 

The track record of our urban infrastructure projects offers little reassurance. Consider the “magic boxes” — those 30-foot underpasses that during monsoons turn into veritable “tragic boxes,” where vehicles and pedestrians alike risk being trapped or even swept away.

If these modest structures are prone to disaster, the safety concerns multiply exponentially when contemplating a 190-kilometre   labyrinth beneath our feet.

Safety, indeed, is paramount. Underground roads require a sophisticated infrastructure of emergency exits, robust ventilation systems, continuous monitoring and a dedicated emergency response team.

The stark reality is that all these safety measures demand significant financial and technical investment — resources that are already stretched thin with all the freebies that this government has doled out.

Add to this the labyrinth of undocumented underground water pipelines, drainage systems, gas lines and fibre optic cables, the feasibility of such a project becomes even more dubious.

For Bengaluru, replete with political changes, corrupt tender procedures and the notorious kickback culture, maintaining strict timelines and budgets for such an ambitious project seems almost fanciful.

One must ask: is it wise to invest billions in an underground network when similar ventures — like Singapore’s underground road system — were scrapped in 2017 as unviable?

Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority ultimately decided that the funds would be better allocated to developing clean, safe and efficient public transportation.

Indeed, good public transport helps but sadly, at the rate of our population growth public transport is not the solution as London has proved. 

London has a very extensive public transport system. Yet it figures at the top of the heaviest traffic congestion index list. 

So, what is the answer to decongesting a city? The answer is building new cities or developing tier-2 cities for growth. 

If Bengaluru has to be saved, if Karnataka wants to continue to attract investments, then Mysuru is that saviour city. 

Megacities have their limits. Bengaluru’s relentless growth has created what economists refer to as ‘agglomeration diseconomies’— a point where the concentration of firms and people, while initially spurring productivity, eventually sows the seeds of congestion, skyrocketing housing costs, pollution and even crime. Bengaluru clearly has reached its optimal capacity as a liveable metropolis.

It would be wise for our Government to take the advice of people like Economist Ruchir Sharma, who, in his book ‘The Rise And Fall Of Nations’ said that creating new cities with a population of 10 lakh or over is essential. 

According to Sharma, such cities become the desired growth engines with their cost advantage in labour and land. They can help reduce the burden from other megacities such as Bengaluru, which are well above their optimal size limit. 

The Dy.CM must work on this as a long-term solution where he has to build Mysuru or even Hubballi or Dharwad to decongest Bengaluru. 

Mysuru seems like the ideal city to decongest Bengaluru — It has highway connectivity, it has double rail track, it has airport, it has similar weather and it has water. 

All that the government has to do is prep- Mysuru — This means investing in long-term metro plans, overhauling drainage and stormwater systems and creating expansive open spaces to act as the city’s lungs.

Perhaps, it is high time to take the long-overdue ‘Greater Mysuru’ plan seriously.

 It’s time for a paradigm shift — from patching up an overburdened Bengaluru to building a network of thriving, well-planned cities. 

And in this grand vision, Mysuru isn’t just an option; it’s the beacon of hope that can truly save Bengaluru… but are our political Gods listening? If they’re deaf then… God save us.

e-mail: vikram@starofmysore.com