Bhopal Master Plan 2047 has triggered a widening land-use dispute, with farmers from 66 villages protesting proposed restrictions around the Upper Lake and the Town and Country Planning department receiving more than 3,000 claims and objections against the draft plan.
More than 500 farmers marched towards the T&CP office to submit their objections, but police stopped them at Neelbad using barricades. The protesters then held a sit-in and raised slogans against the proposed Bhopal Development Plan-2047, according to a report by Times of India – Bhopal.
The farmers alleged that agricultural land in the 66 villages had been earmarked for riverfront development, forests, green belts and other restricted-use categories. They said the proposed land-use changes could affect their ability to obtain construction permission, including permission to build houses on their own land. The protesters described the plan as a threat to both property rights and agricultural livelihoods.
Following the protest, T&CP assistant director Indu Tripathi accepted 319 objections submitted by the farmers. The objections were formally submitted after the group was prevented from reaching the planning office, with the police barricade at Neelbad prompting the road-side sit-in.
The dispute extends beyond the villages surrounding the Upper Lake. Residents of Misrod have objected to a proposed 45-metre-wide road passing through an established residential area. They have demanded that the road be removed from the draft plan, arguing that its alignment could affect existing settlements. Anokhi Mansingh Patel said the farmers had travelled to Bhopal to register their objections to the proposed development plan.
The scale of opposition has grown as objections have arrived from both rural and urban areas. The T&CP department has received more than 3,000 claims and objections through online and offline channels. On Thursday, the Sanyukt Rehvasi Sangharsh Samiti, or Joint Residents’ Struggle Committee, submitted around 2,000 objections.
The residents’ committee has called for the existing character of residential areas to be preserved. It has also opposed provisions that would facilitate the regularisation of unauthorised commercial activities. The concerns reflect a broader conflict within the draft plan: the attempt to guide Bhopal’s long-term growth is affecting agricultural land, established neighbourhoods and the regulation of existing land uses at the same time.
Objections have also been submitted by residents of Arera Colony, Gautam Nagar, Rohit Nagar, Rachna Nagar, Bawadiya Kalan, Saket Nagar, BHEL, Kotra, Lalghati, Shakti Nagar, Shahpura Vikas Kunj, Kolar Road, Nehru Nagar, Priyadarshan Gulmohar, DK Cottage, Green City Society and Ram Sharan Society. Former IAS officer Kavindra Kiyawat and several other individuals have also filed objections.
The T&CP department’s acceptance of the submissions marks the next formal stage in the consultation process for the draft plan. The department will now have to consider the objections covering proposed land-use categories, road alignments, residential-area protections and the treatment of unauthorised commercial activity.
