Bengaluru: The city’s notorious traffic congestion is so severe that even Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar admits he receives complaints about it at home.
Speaking in the legislative council on Thursday, Shivakumar revealed that his own children berate him almost daily over Bengaluru’s crippling traffic and deteriorating road infrastructure. During a debate on the proposed tunnel road project, BJP MLC CT Ravi highlighted the scale of the problem, noting that Bengaluru has over 1.2 crore registered vehicles, with citizens spending an average of 117 hours a year stuck in traffic. As per a TOI report, Shivakumar said, “Around 40 lakh additional vehicles enter the city daily from surrounding districts. Bengaluru is not as planned as New Delhi. The road dimensions have remained the same since city founder Kempegowda's time, but vehicle numbers have exploded. It can take six to seven hours to travel just 10-15km. My own kids complain it takes up to three hours to reach some parts of the city and fight with me. High court judges who commute to work from Hebbal have also been complaining that it takes 45 minutes to travel to work.” He further pointed out that Bengaluru’s population has doubled from 70 lakh to 1.4 crore, including 25 lakh tech professionals, nearly double the number in California’s Silicon Valley. However, he argued that widening roads is nearly impossible given property costs exceeding Rs 10,000 per sqft. Instead, Shivakumar proposed large-scale double-decker flyovers and elevated corridors as a solution. Citing a pilot flyover from Ragigudda to Silk Board executed by Minister Ramalinga Reddy after a study visit to Pune, he added, “PM Narendra Modi recently appreciated the concept and advised to expand it, even suggesting solar panel coverage.”
