(Feature Image: Statue of great Parmar King Raja Bhoj in Upper lake in Bhopal. Bhim Singh Rawat/SANDRP, May 2023)
The Bhoj wetlands in Bhopal city is one of the oldest man-made lake in Asia. The waterbody is a fountainhead of environmental services and a designated Ramsar wetlands site. Despite this, the wetlands eco-system has been facing gradual degradation on account of growing encroachments, pollution[i] and extravagant tourist projects. Amid this, a new road project cutting through the catchment area of Bhoj wetlands and forest land around Bhopal city has raised alarm bells among concerned citizens who term its unnecessary and suggest better options as win-win solution.
About Bhoj Wetlands
The Bhoj Wetlands in western part of Bhopal city is comprised of Upper and lower lakes. While the Upper lake was built in 11th century[ii] by constructing an earthen dam on Kolans river, the seepages of the Upper lake has formed another waterbody just downstream called Lower lake or Chhota Talab which was dammed around 200 years ago. The twin lakes are spread over 30 sqkm and have a catchment area of 361 sqkm ultimately draining into Kaliasot river.
The Bhoj wetlands is integral part of city’s daily life and culture. The wetlands support rich aquatic and riparian biodiversity. Presently, it meets around 40 percent of city’s potable water supply. It has also been a source of irrigation water for several villages and provide livelihoods to scores of people through fisheries. Over the years, the wetlands have emerged as a famous tourist location and center of recreational activities.
Given the Bhoj wetlands historical and environmental significance the perennial waterbody was declared a Ramsar wetlands site in August 2002. Then in March 2011, honoring the great Parmar King Raja Bhoj under whom the lake was built, it was officially named as Bhoj Taal.
About the Proposed Road Project
The Bhopal Development Plan (BDP) 2031 put in public domain in March 2020 had proposed construction of Bhopal Western Bypass Road in western and southern parts of Bhopal city. The 40.90 km long bypass road project starts from Itayakalan village on Jabalpur-Bhopal National Highway (NH) 46 Phanda village on Bhopal-Indore State Highway (SH) 28.
The project costing around Rs. 3000 crore[iii] is being implemented by Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation Limited (MPRDC) and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been prepared by L N Malviya Infra Projects Private Limited.
The main objective of the project is to divert traffic from Mandideep industrial town to Indore bypassing Bhopal city. The four-lane road project with paved shoulder and two additional service lanes will require acquisition of 613.92 acre of private farming land belonging to 31 villages in three tehsils of Bhopal and Raisen.
The project in pipeline for past few years, could not go ahead due to lack of budget. However, after August 2023, the MPRDC has paced up its paper work. The Social Impact Assessment (SIA) report has been completed in September 2023 and subsequently the MPRDC floated tender for the construction of the project.
In January 2024, Agra based PNC Infratech company has been selected[iv] to build the project on hybrid annuity mode (HAM) in 24 months with 15 years of operation period and in March 2024 the company has signed execution agreement[v] with MPRDC following which the administration has started land acquisition[vi] process.
Faulty Planning & Process
Since the beginning, concerned citizens of Bhopal have been raising objections against the road project on several grounds including the fundamental problems in planning procedure, preparation of DPR, SIA reports and land acquisition processes.
As per them, the government department became hyper active in September-October 2023 to complete most of the paper work for the project just a week ahead of model code of conduct was imposed for state assembly election held in November 2023.
According to Ravindra Jain, a senior journalist from Bhopal, the state machinery is pushing the project in great haste as it serves the vested interest of bureaucrats, politicians and land mafias who have already bought huge land parcels enroute bypass road project before any official survey. “The BDP 2031 on which basis the project is proposed has been withdrawn by the government couple of months back. Hence, the project should not go ahead”, says Ravindra Jain.
Citizens allege that the DPR of the project is prepared in fraudulent manner and reeks of land scam, corruption which require a thorough independent probe on urgent basis. Notably, the owner of L N Malviya Infra Projects Private Limited is alleged to be involved in Vyapam scam[vii] which is being investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Similarly, the SIA document of the project has invited sharp criticism for containing incomplete and false information. “The document wrongly claims no adverse impact on the environment without any explanation and has made untrue claim of conducting public hearing in Sept 2023. It fails to justify the necessity of the bypass road and has not explored options for the project”, states a retired government official on condition of anonymity.
Citizens say that in violation of land acquisition rules, the MPRDC has awarded construction work to PNC Infratech without seeking consent from 70 percent of affected families.
Impacts on Bhopal’s Wetlands, Forest and Wildlife
From a distance environmental cost of the Western Bhopal Bypass Road Project may not be apparent, however a closer look reveals the severe adverse impacts[viii] the project will have on Bhoj wetlands, water resources, forest land and wildlife of Bhopal which needs to be addressed immediately.
As per the People Samachar, Feb. 24, 2024 news report, the alignment of the entire bypass also called ring road project, passes through southern and western side of Bhopal city. About 6 km length of the project in southern side is under Ratapani sanctuary and reserve forest areas in Barod village. The quantum of the forest land required for the project is not known and the forest clearance is also pending as per the media reports.
Similarly, the project route in western side includes sparely populated and open landscape. While the southern part is rich in greenery and supports wildlife including tigers, bears and dears the western side forms the catchment area of Bhoj wetlands. The project will fragment the forest land hampering movement of wildlife and damage the catchment[ix] area of Bhoj wetlands and other dams.
“Bhopal was originally located amid dense forest area. But the city is fast loosing green cover for smart city, road and other projects. So, it is important to protect the remaining green and forest areas around Bhopal city”, says Deepak Joshi, a former state government minister and resident of Bhopal. He says the bypass road project will damage the water resources feeding three dams Kolar, Kerwa, Kaliasot and two rivers Kolans and Uljhawan.
Apart from this, the 11th century Shiv Temple and two ancient stepwells in Samasgarh enroute the road alignment stand threatened[x] by the project. Notably, the state government had declared these three structures as protected monuments in January 2013 which prohibits any construction and mining activities within 200 meter area of these historical structures.
According to Abhilash Khandekar a former member of MP Wildlife Board member and well-known environmentalist, Bhopal is the only city where national animal tiger is seen in its municipal limits. The southern and western parts of the city are sensitive as well as important for environmental services and needs to be protected. “The State Wetlands Authority (SWA) has not approved the project. It is a threat to wildlife mainly Bhopal’s urban tigers. The Upper Lake a Ramsar site’s part would also be impacted. Therefore, citizens are opposing this project”, says Abhilash Khandekar.
There are also concerns on long term impact of the bypass road construction. According to citizens, the project is bound to change the land use and facilitate building of commercial, residential projects in wetlands catchment area. The increase in human population and intervention will further cause degradation to greenery and water sources ultimately proving detrimental to the Bhoj wetlands and forest areas around Bhopal city.
According to Subhash C Pandey, there are several projects going on which are damaging the greenery and lakes of Bhopal. Subhash C Pandey is Bhopal based environmentalist and has filed several cases in courts to protect lakes and rivers in the region. He says that one of the serious flaws in the Wetlands Conservation & Management Rules 2017 is limiting the wetlands protected zone to 50 m. “There is no legal protection to catchment of wetlands and even the Ramsar sites. If the catchment is damaged the wetlands will ultimately vanish”, says Pandey.
Unwanted Project Ignoring Alternatives
The expert and concerned citizens univocally agree that the bypass road project is totally unwanted. “There is Eastern Bypass Road already built for the same purpose of diverting Sehore-Indore bound traffic from Mandideep via Bhairopur-Arwaliya-Phanda Kalan”, says Deepak Joshi.
According to Ravindra Jain, given the impact of new bypass road on water resources, forest land and wildlife, the existing Eastern Bypass Road is far better and available option already connecting Bhopal with Hoshangabad, Raisen, Sehore and Indore cities. Similarly, Abhilash Khandekar says that there is not much traffic pressure on existing routes to Sehore and Indore hence there is no need to build the new bypass road.
As per the citizens, the last 12 km around 30 percent length of proposed bypass road project between Jhagariya Khurd junction and Phada Kalan serves no purpose as there is exiting Bhopal-Sehore (via Neelbad-Bilkisganj) four lane road already going through Bhoj wetlands catchment area and the new bypass unnecessarily diverts Sehore bound traffic to Phanda Kalan in wrong direction just to benefit toll company.
The citizens demand government to keep remaining parts of western and southern Bhopal intact and cancellation of the new bypass road project. They have even petitioned Ramsar Convention, International and India office seeking intervention into the matter.
Interestingly, the state government has also nominated[xi] Bhopal for Wetland City Accreditation tag in January 2024. “Its so absurd that one department of the government is spending public money in the name of lake conservation and the other department is proposing such plans which will damage the lakes and environment of the city”, says Ravindra Jain.
It is worth mentioning that only last year, the MPRDC had proposed another road project in 400 meter inside the Upper Lake along eastern bank parallel to existing VIP lane road. After SWA’s objection, the MPRDC approached Union Environment Ministry seeking relaxation in Wetlands Rules 2017 and the plea is reportedly pending there for more than half a year.
As per the concerned citizens, the Bhoj wetlands has been serving the Bhopal in multiple ways apart from protecting the city from adverse impacts of climate change; however the government departments continue to ignore its value and services. They expect government to cancel the Western Bhopal Bypass Road project given its immense short and long term impacts on Bhopal’s forest, wildlife and water resources including on the catchment of Bhoj wetlands.
Bhim Singh Rawat (bhim.sandrp@gmail.com)
References: –
[i] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/events/bhopal/once-asias-largest-manmade-lake-bhojtals-dying-a-slow-death/articleshow/69953580.cms
[ii] https://www.gaonconnection.com/lead-stories/worlds-oldest-dam-bhojpur-lake-raja-bhoj-mandideep-madhya-pradesh-bhopal-india-history-lake-hom-51129
[iii] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/3k-cr-western-bypass-road-construction-to-start-soon/articleshow/106334963.cms
[iv] https://www.projectstoday.com/News/PNC-Infratech-receives-LoA-to-develop-Western-Bhopal-Bypass
[v] https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/markets/pnc-infratech-executes-agreement-with-mp-road-development-corporation/article67928502.ece
[vi] https://bhopal.nic.in/en/document-category/land-acquisition-order/
[vii] https://www.bhopalsamachar.com/2020/01/l-n-malviya-bhopal-news.html
[viii] https://www.thequint.com/my-report/time-to-reconsider-proposed-bhopal-bypass-road-that-threatens-citys-ecology
[ix] https://peoplesupdate.com/rivers-their-catchments-and-tiger-areas-are-in-danger-from-the-south-western-ring-road/
[x] https://peoplesupdate.com/the-remains-of-11th-century-shiva-temple-and-stepwells-are-in-danger-from-the-western-bypass-road/
[xi] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/wetland-tag-puts-bhopal-lakes-on-global-map/articleshow/106590838.cms
SANDRP 