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Bhopal Master Plan 2031: A comprehensive blueprint for city growth

The long-awaited Master Plan for Bhopal has finally been unveiled after a 17-year wait. The draft of the Bhopal Development Plan 2031 was released on Friday, inviting objections and suggestions on the proposed changes for the next 30 days.

In the draft plan, the planning area for Bhopal has been revised from the originally proposed 813 sqkm in 2005 to 1016.90 sqkm. This extension includes 248 villages within the planning area.

According to the draft plan, the projected population for the year 2031 is expected to be 3.6 million, indicating an increase of 1.6 million. The plan takes into account the current population density of 100 persons per hectare to determine the minimum additional area required by 2031.

Some significant modifications have been made in the draft plan. The proposed road to Indore has been reversed, and the low-density residential status along the Upper Lake has been retained as a green belt.

Additionally, the plan introduces three new sub-cities in Bhopal for development, in addition to the existing five. These proposed sub-cities are situated near Misrod towards Mandideep, between Chola Road, and on the Narsinghgarh (Airport) Road. As a result, Bhopal will have a total of eight sub-cities: Bairagarh, Neori, BHEL, BHEL Extension, TT Nagar, Misrod, Kolar, and the Old City.

For regular city residents, the amendments reverse the 16% increase in floor area ratio (FAR) for low-density residential development. Mixed-use development will only be permitted if the width of the colony road is 18 meters. The proposed metro rail track will have a reduced space requirement of 100 meters instead of 500 meters for commercial development.

Marriage gardens along Bairagarh and other residential developments near the Upper Lake are now recognized as harmful to Raja Bhoj's lake, and the revised Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules of 2017 are being acknowledged by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department.

Efforts to increase activity in the Upper Lake by the Tourism Department or BMC politicians will be restricted. The catchment area buffer, which was initially reduced to 100 meters, has been restored to 250 meters in the new draft plan.

Many of the modifications made to the green cover in the 2005 Bhopal Master Plan have been reversed in the new plan. A 30-day period, starting from June 2, has been allocated for receiving objections and suggestions regarding the draft plan.

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