The National Green Tribunal has given the Kolar Sub-Divisional Magistrate, the Water Resources Department and Bhopal Municipal Corporation 10 days to complete the identification and demarcation of Shahpura Lake’s full tank level and buffer zone, warning agencies against shifting responsibility for the delay.
The tribunal also directed the Kolar SDM to begin removing encroachments from the lake’s no-construction zone immediately after the boundaries are finalised. The directions were issued during a hearing before a bench comprising Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Sudhir Kumar Chaturvedi.
“We make it clear that the SDM Kolar, WRD & BMC are directed to coordinate with the committee in finalising the identification and demarcation of Shahpura lake within 10 days without fail instead of diverting the issue to one another and wasting the time of the tribunal,” the tribunal said, according to the order reported by the Times of India.
The bench also criticised the Kolar SDM for appearing without information on the progress of the demarcation process. The order said it was “surprising” that the officer was not aware of the progress concerning the lake’s full tank level and buffer zone, and directed him to attend future proceedings with the relevant information and proper preparation.
The case concerns a long-running dispute over the precise boundary of the lake and the extent of the protected area around it. Earlier proceedings had been delayed by a disagreement over the survey identification number. The Kolar tehsildar had stated that demarcation could not proceed because there was no separate survey number for the pond apart from the existing boundary at the site. The Madhya Pradesh Wetland Authority, however, told the tribunal that Shahpura Lake had been assigned Wetland ID MP002153 among the wetlands identified in Bhopal district.
Bhopal Municipal Corporation informed the tribunal that digital demarcation and encroachment mapping of the lake’s catchment zone had been undertaken through Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. The exercise referred to the 2005 Bhopal Master Plan, which provides for a 33-metre zone, and the Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, which provide for a 50-metre buffer. A drone-based survey was conducted on July 24, 2026, and the resulting digital demarcation and mapping was made available on August 4. The mapping identified both permanent and temporary constructions in the catchment area.
The tribunal was also told that an inspection had found no encroachment in the vicinity of Shahpura Lake after 2017-18. However, Harpreet Singh Gupta, counsel for the petitioner, argued that despite repeated directions, the authorities had not taken the necessary steps to identify and remove encroachments. He also alleged that untreated water was regularly being discharged, or allowed to be discharged, into the lake, which has been notified as a wetland.
Gupta submitted that the 2017 Wetlands Rules applied to Shahpura Lake and that private entities should not be allowed to continue encroachments within the wetland or its buffer zone. Representing the state government, counsel Prashant M. Harne said that necessary action was being taken. The tribunal directed him to submit a response on compliance with its earlier order.
The Kolar SDM told the tribunal that records from the Water Resources Department had been transferred to the BMC and that the records were required to finalise the lake’s exact full tank level and other measurements. The tribunal noted that the BMC had not yet submitted its response and ordered it to file compliance details before the next hearing. The matter is listed for October 30.
