No Trees Are Being Cut Inside Bengaluru's Lalbagh For Construction Of Twin Tunnel Road: Karnataka Govt Tells High Court

The Karnataka Government informed the High Court on Tuesday (October 28) that no trees are being cut inside Bengaluru's Lalbagh Botanical Garden for construction of the proposed Twin Tunnel Road.

On October 25 a division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C M Poonacha while hearing two public interest litigations filed by Dr Adikesavalu Ravindra and Prakash Belawadi had asked the state government to respond to the concern raised by the petitioners that “Trees in Bengaluru are under threat.”

Thereafter, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty appearing for the State informed the court they aren't cutting trees and hence passing of any order or interim order does not arise.

An underground road approximately at the cost of Rs 19,000 crore is proposed from Hebbal to Silk Board, and is claimed as a fix for Bengaluru's traffic problem.

The pleas filed seeks to quash tender notification dated 14/07/2025, for the Bangalore twin tunnel road project, together with all consequential steps including publication of the RFP, Pre-bid proceedings, Bid submission, Bid evaluation and Proposed issuance of letter of award.

It further seeks to quash the feasibility study (December 2024) prepared by respondent no.7 (Altinok Consulting Engineering Pvt Ltd) and the detailed project report prepared by respondent no.6 (Rodic Consultants Pvt Ltd) and the so-called revised DPR dated February 2025 , for non compliance with mandatory legal standards, internal inconsistencies and non-application of mind.

It also seeks to quash the letter dated 26/11/2024 of the State Environment Impact assessment authority, Karnataka (annexure-g), purporting to opine that prior environmental clearance is not required for the project.

It further seeks to direct the respondents from taking any further steps in execution of the bangalore twin tunnel road project without conducting an environmental impact assessment, preparing mobility planning for underground road construction, preparing a list of specific cost of acquisition, preparing a report consisting of the present utility and drainage maps showing all existing water, storm water, drainage pipes/lines and a diversion plan for the same indicating if any existing pipes/layouts are being affected, and permissions, not limited to what is stated above, and absent such compliance, the project shall not be taken forward or acted upon in any manner whatsoever.

Case Title: Prakash Balewadi AND State of Karnataka & Others

Counsel for Petitioners: Advocates LS Tejasvi Surya, Anirudh A Kulkarni, Akshay S Vasist, Vasista Ramprasad

Case No: WP 31626/2025 c/w WP 28664/2025