Day after Gautam Adani meets D.K. Shivakumar, Karnataka government amends two laws to clear legal hurdles for tunnel road project
The move has drawn strong condemnation from the petitioners arguing that this amounted to “regularising violations in retrospect”.
Just a day after Gautam Adani, chairman of Adani Group and the lowest bidder in Bengaluru's North-South Twin Tunnel project, met with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, the Karnataka government took steps to resolve legal challenges to the tunnel road initiative on August 24. The legislature passed the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Karnataka Government Parks (Preservation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, aimed at clearing legal hurdles for the project.
The first bill gave deemed approval for all projects initiated under the BMLTA Act, 2022, and before the BMLTA Rules, 2026 notification, which was expected to be beneficial for the tunnel road project. The second bill allowed alienation of 5% of park and garden lands for public purposes, including one acre of Lalbagh land for the tunnel road project.
However, three petitions in the High Court argued that the tunnel road project violated these laws. The amendments drew criticism from petitioners, who described them as retroactive approvals and undemocratic moves. Despite the opposition, the government moved forward with the legislation, which must now await the outcome of the ongoing petitions.
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