The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) has landed in a major environmental controversy following the construction of a temporary road-like structure within the ecologically sensitive buffer zone and catchment area of Shahpura Lake. The development has triggered severe allegations of violating wetland conservation norms and environmental guidelines. Taking note of the gravity of the situation, environmentalists have submitted a formal complaint to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and other regulatory agencies, demanding an independent and impartial inquiry. According to municipal officials, the structure was built as part of the pre-monsoon drain cleaning and desilting campaign. The municipal administration launched its city-wide sanitation drive on May 1, deploying heavy excavators to clear a vital drainage channel connected to Shahpura Lake near the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board office. To facilitate the movement of these heavy machines and transport vehicles into the water body, workers constructed a 50-meter-long temporary road using stones, construction debris, soil, and concrete directly inside the lake basin.

 

The presence of the road-like structure was exposed during on-site inspections conducted on June 5 and June 24, where the illegal pathway was seen stretching deep into the lake waters. Environmental activist Nitin Saxena alleged in his complaint that dumping heavy construction waste and debris inside the protected wetland has severely disrupted the lake’s natural ecosystem. Activists warned that this unauthorised construction would have a highly adverse impact on the lake’s hydrology, local biodiversity, and natural groundwater recharge processes. Legal actions are being prepared against the municipal administration for violating several environmental laws. The complaint explicitly cites violations of the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, the Environment Protection Act 1986, the Water Act 1974, and the Biological Diversity Act 2002. Saxena has demanded that the regulatory authorities identify the responsible officials and agencies for immediate prosecution, halt all active dumping or landfilling operations, and restore the affected portion of the lake to its original state.

 

Officials from the municipal corporation’s lake conservation wing revealed that a separate lakefront beautification and stone-pitching project, covering a two-kilometre stretch of Shahpura Lake and a one-kilometre corridor of Chhota Talaab, was initiated several months ago. The project featured proposals for a pedestrian walkway along the lake’s edge. However, only 200 meters of the work has been completed to date, and the entire beautification initiative has been put on hold due to severe budget constraints and unresolved technical hurdles. Additional Municipal Commissioner Tanmay V Sharma admitted that the civic body constructed a temporary access road to allow heavy machinery to reach the desilting site. Sharma claimed that the temporary pathway would be completely removed within a few days once the desilting and channel-clearing operations are concluded. However, the senior administrator firmly denied any violation of wetland preservation guidelines or environmental laws. ‘The Hitavada’ team tried to establish contact with Municipal Commissioner Sanskriti Jain to seek clarifications on the ongoing construction within the Shahpura Lake buffer zone. However, Jain was unreachable on phone and did not respond to the calls.