Beyond The Hype: What D.K. Shivakumar's Infrastructure Blitz Really Means For Bengaluru

As Bengaluru's streets turned into rivers during the monsoon, Karnataka's politicians played their usual blame game. The opposition attacked the ruling party, while Congress deflected responsibility for decades-old problems.

But monsoons are just one nightmare in Bengaluru's daily obstacle course of potholes, missing footpaths, overflowing drains, and tangled cables—turning commutes into real-life Mario Kart. The mess is so bad that BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, after running the TCS World 10K, fired off an open letter to D.K. Shivakumar blasting the city's infrastructure: 'Not a single stretch was free of potholes'.

The Deputy Chief Minster on his part has certainly upgraded his PR game. In February, after inaugurating Namma Raste 2025, he 'conceded defeat': "Even if god were to descend and walk on Bengaluru roads, nothing can be done within the next one, two or three years!"

Fast forward to the recent floods, and suddenly he's everywhere—monitoring the situation from BBMP's war room, visiting affected areas, striking a completely different tone on X: "The issues we face today are not new. They have been ignored for years, across governments and administrations. The only difference now is - we are working to solve them. Not with temporary fixes, but with long-term, sustainable solutions. To my fellow Bengalureans - I am one among you."

The transformation is striking. But beneath the polished messaging and proactive posturing lies the real question: Are DK's solutions actually 'long-term' and 'sustainable'? Or is this just old wine in new bottles—another excuse to funnel infrastructure spending into the pockets of Bengaluru's bureaucratic and political elite?

Is Bengaluru Bored of Being Bored?

D.K. Shivakumar has a tunnel obsession. His flagship project involves an elevated corridor connecting Minister KJ George's constituency to Kempegowda International Airport. That's just the beginning: there's also the Rs 12,930 crore underground tunnel from Hebbal to Silk Board, plus a proposed 28-km Tunnel 2 linking Krishnarajapuram to Nayandahalli.

The tunnel logic seems straightforward—decongest traffic by creating multiple entry and exit points. But this well-intentioned approach seems fundamentally flawed. It treats symptoms rather than causes, and at worst, actually generates more traffic demand than it solves.

The tunnels won't actually reduce journey times. They'll likely do the opposite. By encouraging more private vehicle use, they might end up creating a classic case of induced demand: build more roads, get more traffic, eventually overwhelm the new infrastructure.

Enter the toll solution. According to the Indian Express, drivers will pay Rs 330 for a 16.6 km stretch, with annual 5 per cent increases tied to wholesale price indices. Do the math: Rs 20 per kilometre versus Rs 8-10 per kilometre for fuel costs. This isn't public infrastructure—it's elite-only express lanes.

High tolls mean low usage. Low usage means even higher tolls to recover costs. Even higher tolls mean even lower usage. Meanwhile, everyone else gets squeezed onto increasingly congested surface roads. The result? Expensive tunnels sitting empty while the city chokes above ground.

The tunnel redundancy is multifaceted. Take Tunnel 1 for instance, as Rajkumar Dugar, Founder and Convenor of Citizens for Citizens (C4C), points out in Citizen Matters: “Approximately 90 per cent of Tunnel 1, spanning from Hebbal to Central Silk Board (CSB), lies well within 1 km of the proposed Sarjapur-Hebbal Metro stations. This metro line has already received approval from the Government of Karnataka (GoK) and is awaiting final approval from the Government of India (GoI). Tunnel 1 will feature only 3 entry/exit points between its endpoints, whereas the Metro will have 10 stations in the same stretch.”

Similar is the case with the proposed 28-km Tunnel 2 between Krishnarajapuram and Nayandahalli, which itself presents a higher case of potential redundancy as there exists:

a) A functional Metro (Whitefield–Kengeri) between the same two end points, and

(b) An upcoming Corridor 3 (Whitefield–Kengeri) of Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project (BSRP) — again between the same two points albeit with different alignment in between.

Obsession With Flyovers

Another feature of DK Shivakumar’s comprehensive infrastructure overhaul are double-decker flyovers.

Kanakpura’s Bande wants to build Bengaluru’s largest flyover between JP Nagar and Hebbal at the cost of Rs 9,800 crore, a project he has termed as ‘futuristic’ and a ‘game-changer’.

Researchers from IISc’s Sustainable Transportation Lab (IST) in a recent study reveal how double-decker roads and tunnel corridors, despite offering localised travel time reductions, encourage private vehicle usage, and reduce public transport ridership.

With particular regard to JP Nagar Hebbal Flyover, Prof Ashish Verma, convener of the IST had this to say to the Bangalore Mirror- “It will only provide temporary relief and shift the point of congestion, the quest to create more road space to only accommodate personal vehicles is an endless and futile exercise. Such interventions have long been past the expiry date in all parts of the world”.

Another problem with flyovers is BBMP’s abysmal track record. Swarajya spoke to Pravar Chaudhary, the creative director at Bengawalks, a creative agency that tells stories about urbanization and climate change in India.  Referencing his latest video titled ‘The never ending construction of Bengaluru’, he reveals why our cities feel permanently incomplete. Basing his arguments on the 600-page feasibility report released by BBMP in December 2024, Pravar takes the example of Ejipura flyover. “It is barely two kms long, and it has already taken eight years to build less than 50 per cent of it. The feasibility report proposes 200 kms across 18 flyovers and two tunnels which at the Ejipura rate would take 800 years to finish”.

Similarly, “the first project proposed in the report is a flyover that connects Yeshwanthpura to K R Puram. This proposed flyover lands on a stretch of Old Madras road that has been getting white topped for the last 5 years. Just as it is about to be completed, BBMP wants to put a flyover on top.”

BBMP’s incessant delays causing havoc and exacerbating existing mobility problems has been recognised by BBMP itself. Take the instance of administrator Tushar Giri Nath who, post the recent flooding of Bengaluru streets, travelled by tractor to assess the situation in Sai Layout and nearby regions. He himself identified the primary cause of water-logging in the area as ongoing road-widening work on a railway vent near Geddalahalli, which disrupted the flow of stormwater, exacerbating flooding in the area.

The Equity Problem

At the heart of the issue is the state’s enduring fixation on private vehicular movement. Roads are meant to be for everybody, from pedestrians, to cyclists, and automobiles. However, zero per cent of the feasibility report focuses on pedestrian infrastructure or public transport, nor does it spend time discussing how pedestrians and public transport users are to navigate roads the BBMP proposes to build.

Similar lack of regard to the equitable distribution to the right of way was expressed by the Deputy Chief Minister when he, while advocating for a 35-km-long signal-free flyover, stated the present elevated corridor is ‘hindered’ by traffic signals and pedestrian crossings.

“Signal-free corridors and junctions built over the last 20 years are unfriendly to people. Flyovers ignore pedestrians and kill bus access. The thinking is vehicle-first, not people-first. Projects not policies. No pedestrian data represented equals no visibility. Pedestrians don't pay as much to the government directly unlike cars (through fuel, tolls) so they end up last on the list. Bengaluru is increasingly built for cars but 90 per cent of us don’t own one ”, Chadhury informs. 

In stark contrast are the TenderSURE roads, which champion the idea of roads as a conduit for movement and public space. While significant portions of  Bengaluru lay submerged underwater in late May, TenderSURE roads (St Marks Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, Museum Road, Commissariat Road, Cunningham Road and Vittal Mallya Road), built more than a decade ago stood the test of time. Over the past 10 years, they have beared it all, from heavy monsoons, to Bengaluru traffic to utility maintenance measures, yet they remain the gold standard for urban roads in India today. 

D.K. Shivakumar, The Reformer?

A distinguishing feature of TenderSURE roads is that utilities are laid under the footpaths preventing the need to enter into an endless cycle of road digging every time a maintenance issue arose.

While the Minister in charge of Bengaluru is yet to shift his focus beyond vehicular mobility, he has been in agreement with this key aspect of making roads more efficient. Part of his grand plans involve the power lines and cables to prevent flood-related outages.

The Deputy Chief Minister, to his credit, has been proactive in recognising that drainage is critical infrastructure and not an afterthought. Post the flooding, he actively identified flood-prone areas in Bengaluru, updated citizens on areas where flood prevention work is ongoing, and endorsed the building of stormwater drains. He even took accountability by stating that some of the flooding issues were a consequence of underpass works being carried out in those areas and promised to resolve the issue by working with the concerned departments. 

BBMP is not the only agency responsible for urban governance in the city.  Various municipal functions have been handed over to parastatal organizations over time. These include BWSSB, created to provide formal water supply and manage sewerage; BMTC was bifurcated to provide bus based transport for Bengaluru Metropolitan Area; BESCOM for power supply; BDA for urban development, BMRCL, BMTLA….the list goes on and on. 

There existed no single agency that coordinated work between them. This fragmented structure, dominated by parastatal agencies, sidelines local governance institutions. As a result, public accountability diminishes, and planning and service delivery become disjointed and disconnected from the city's actual needs.

Now, with the enactment of the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, the BBMP has been replaced by the GBA. However, strong political control, exercised right from the Chief Minister’s office, leaves it with little autonomy to function as a truly independent body. But at least in principle, D.K. Shivakumar has brought the city’s various parastatal agencies under a single coordinating body by ensuring their commissioners are represented in the GBA.

BBMP polls have been pending for nearly five years, with the transition to the GBA, ward delimitation, and the proposed trifurcation of the city now cited as reasons for further delay. How these reforms will translate into actual coordination on the ground remains to be seen.

Prioritise Public Transport, Build Equitable Roads

In a city where less than 10 per cent own cars, and where roads are engineered primarily for the convenience of private vehicles, the government continues to disincentivise the majority who rely on public transport. Recent fare hikes by both BMTC and BMRCL only serve to alienate the city’s commuters, particularly the working class, women, students, and the elderly who depend heavily on affordable mobility.

Instead of embracing globally proven models to make public transport accessible and efficient, Bengaluru’s investments are largely flowing into car-centric projects like tunnels and flyovers. Meanwhile, BMTC continues to operate with a woefully inadequate fleet of fewer than 7,000 buses.

Urban transport experts have long recommended that Bengaluru increase its bus fleet to at least 18,000 to meet current demand and expand coverage. The absence of dedicated Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) lanes on arterial roads has further stifled BMTC’s efficiency, leaving buses stuck in the same traffic they are meant to reduce.

Equally important is the need to rethink how bus routes are designed. The current radial model, where most buses funnel into a few central hubs like Majestic, Shivajinagar, and K.R. Market, is outdated and inefficient. Instead, Bengaluru must adopt a hub-and-spoke approach, allowing larger buses to operate in loops between peripheral transit hubs. This model would decongest the city centre, reduce travel times, and enable better integration between metro, suburban rail, and feeder services.

D.K. Shivakumar has positioned himself as a man of action—boots on the ground, responding to crises, promising long-term change. His proactive engagement with drainage upgrades, coordination among parastatal agencies, and emphasis on utility management signals a departure from the apathy of past administrations. However, for all the visibility and rhetoric, the heart of his infrastructure vision still leans heavily toward car-centric mega projects—tunnel roads, double-decker flyovers, and signal-free corridors—while the backbone of an equitable and sustainable mobility plan, public transport, continues to be overlooked.

If the Deputy Chief Minister truly seeks to leave behind a legacy of transformation, he must realign his vision. He has shown the willingness to take charge. What Bengaluru now needs is for him to direct that leadership toward people-first urban planning.

By prioritising public transport over private convenience, equity over optics, and long-term sustainability over short-term spectacle, he has the opportunity to shape a truly inclusive Bengaluru. One not built for the few, but for the many.