If One walks through Misrod today, a message is on every wall, every shutter, every lane corner - blunt, angry, and impossible to ignore. ‘Until this road is removed, no vote. No entry for politicians.’ It is not a slogan coined in an office. It is a village speaking for itself, after weeks of watching a line on a map threaten to cut through the middle of its life. The draft Bhopal Development Plan 2047 proposes a 45-metre-wide road straight through the dense old settlement of Misrod. For people who live here, that is not a road. It is demolition of homes built over generations, fertile fields that feed families, water sources that sustain the area, and a social fabric that no compensation form can rebuild. First came a car rally.

 

Then came written objections to the Town and Country Planning Department. Now comes the poster campaign - a quieter, sharper form of protest that says the village has run out of patience with being told development must pass through its courtyard. The demand is simple, and reasonable. Do not force a highway through a living habitation. Shift the alignment, consider a bypass, and hold a public hearing where residents can be heard before the plan is finalised. Preserve the character of the village, instead of erasing it in the name of the future. Until that happens, residents have announced they will boycott the coming elections - not as a threat, but as a statement of last resort.

 

Misrod is not alone. The 30-day objection window closed over the weekend with over 12,000 submissions across Bhopal. Nearly 60% concern the catchment of the Upper Lake, Kerwa and Kaliyasot, where farmers fear their agricultural land is being reclassified as riverfront, forest and green belt. Officials say scrutiny of the submissions is underway, with hearings expected to begin about a month later. That process will decide whether a plan meant for 2047 listens to the people living in 2026 - or merely draws over them.