Land is a scarce resource and its use and utilisation is highly controlled and steered by the land market which is growing at leaps and bounds. There is already shortage of land in many cities for providing social infrastructure for the residents. Many a time the upgradation and widening of roads is avoided due to unavailability of public land. In many of the Indian cities there is shortage of green infrastructure and system of open spaces for healthy living. Public land is public property and its uses must serve the wider public and public interest.

Keeping in view the above inadequacies of land, the act of the so called guardian of the state like former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh allotting about 20 acres of prime land in Goregaon to a private company for a paltry sum of money;the Madhya Pradesh government giving 20 acres in Bhopal district to the Kushabhau Thakre Memorial Trust in 2006 for a RS 1 as meagre annual lease rent; Left Front government in West Bengal allotting land to Sourav Ganguly for opening school; must be criticised.

Thanks to strong and impartial judiciary system of India that such cases have been properly dealt with.

The problem does not end here. We have to devise a fool proof mechanism of defining public purpose and guidelines for disposal of government land for any form of physical development.

The government land records should be made available in the public domain so that the land is monitored and there is transparency in the disposal and use of the land. A national database for land records can be created and each state must maintain the online updated records of the land especially the government land.

This type of transparent system of information sharing will expose any form of favouritism observed by anybody in power and there such be penalty like barring the person from holding public office in future.

The report is based on the evolution of Bhopal and the main aspects being covered are related to the Transportation system of Bhopal which links the city in a way making it easily accessible from every nook and corner and also the Environment which was affected by the Gas Tragedy which took place long time ago but till now has its adverse impact on the city.

History of Bhopal is one of the oldest in India and this city has a glorious past. The history of Bhopal narrates tales of interesting, heroic and amazing incidents. Bhopal takes pride in its excellent blend of Islamic and Hindu cultures. Various dynasties have ruled the city over the years, contributing to its architectural and historical richness.

The history of Bhopal starts with its foundation by the Parmara King Bhoj (1000-1055), who had his capital at Dhar. The city was initially known as Bhopal named after Bhoj and the dam (`pal`) that he is said to have constructed to form the lakes bounding Bhopal. The fortunes of Bhopal rose and fell with that of its reigning dynasty. As the Parmaras declined in power, the city was destroyed several times and finally faded away into obscurity.

Physical Features

Bhopal has an average elevation of 499 metres (1637 ft). Bhopal is located in the central part of India, and is just north of the upper limit of the Vindhya mountain ranges. Located on the Malwa plateau, it is higher than the north Indian plains and the land rises towards the Vindhya Range to the south. The city has uneven elevation and has small hills within its boundaries. The major hills in Bhopal comprise of Idgah hills and Shyamala hills in the northern region and Arera hills in the central region.

It has two very beautiful big lakes, collectively known as the Bhoj Wetland . These lakes are the Upper Lake (built by King Bhoj) and the Lower Lake. The catchment area of the Upper Lake is 361 km² while that of the Lower Lake is 9.6 km². The Upper Lake drains into the Kolar River. The Van Vihar National Park is a national park situated besides the Upper Lake.

Climate

Bhopal has a humid subtropical climate, with mild, dry winters, a hot summer and a humid monsoon season. Summers start in late March and go on till mid-June, the average temperature being around 30 °C (86 °F), with the peak of summer in May, when the highs regularly exceed 40 °C (104 °F). The monsoon starts in late June and ends in late September. The average temperature is around 25 °C (77 °F) and the humidity is quite high. Temperatures rise again up to late October when winter starts, which lasts up to early March. Winters in Bhopal are mild, sunny and dry, with average temperatures around 18 °C (64 °F) and little or no rain. The winter peaks in January when temperatures may drop close to freezing on some nights. Total annual rainfall is about 1146 mm (46 inches).

Transportation

Local Transport

Bhopal has been a railroad and highway transportation hub for a long time. Bhopal has its own city bus service: Bhopal City Link Limited(currently stopped), which operates larger Star Buses, which are under GPS navigation and smaller Metro Buses. In addition, around 600 mini-buses are run by private operators. Metro or Radio Taxis and auto-rickshaws are another major means of transport. In some parts in the old as well as new city, the new Tata Magic Vans are running successfully and have replaced the older and bigger diesel rickshaws — known as “Bhat”.

Bhopal is also implementing a “Bus Rapid Transit System”, projected to become functional from the year 2011.

Roadways

Apart from the long distance services, there are many services to nearby places within the state. The bus services are operated from 8 major bus stands in the city:

National Highway 12 passes through Bhopal which connects it to Jabalpur in the East and Jaipur in the West. National Highway 86 connects Bhopal to Sagar in the East to Dewas in the West. State Highway 17 connects the city with Indore. There are number of daily buses to Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Sanchi, Pachmarhi, Vidisha, and as well to Ahmedabad, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagpur, Jaipur, Agra, and Allahabad. An interstate bus terminus is near the Habibganj station.

Metro Train

On April 21, 2010, a panel was set up for Bhopal Metro Rail.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will carry out a survey to explore the possibility of running metro rail service in the city and will give a feasibility report soon to Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration Department (MPUAD).

The DMRC will complete the survey in six months for which it has received an amount of Rs 50 lakhs.

Railways

Bhopal lies in the West Central Railway Zone. Considering both North-South and East-West train routes, it is one of the best-connected city in India. Following are the railway stations in Bhopal:

Airport

The Raja Bhoj Airport is located near the satellite suburb Bairagarh and has flights to most major cities in India. Expansion of the airport is underway to convert it into an international airport.

There are three routes ways to reach the airport:

(1) Via Bairagarh,

(2) Via Panchvati,

(3) Via Mahavir Tekri (also known as Manuabhaan Ki Tekri).

Demographics

According to the 2001 census the total Bhopal population is about 1,458,416.

The population consists of 71% Hindus and 24% Muslims, with the rest of the population including Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and, Buddhists.

The Old City of Bhopal is a predominantly conservative but New Bhopal is a demographically cosmopolitan area.

The chief languages are Hindi/Urdu (Hindustani) and English, but there are a substantial number of Marathi, Sindhi, Marwari speakers as well.

Places of interest

A few of the places of interest in Bhopal include

Bhopal disaster

On December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide Corporation pesticide plant in Bhopal leaked around 32 tons of toxic gases, including methyl isocyanine gas which led to the worst industrial disaster to date. The official death toll was initially recorded around 5,000. Many figures suggest that 18,000 died within two weeks, and it is estimated that around 8,000 have died since then of gas-poisoning-related diseases. The Greenpeace organization cites a total casualty figure of 20,000 as its own conservative estimate. The Bhopal disaster is often cited as the world’s worst industrial disaster. December 3 is annually observed as the official day of mourning, and every year, all government offices in Bhopal remain closed on this day.

Impacts of the tragedy

The two ICMR projects on histopathology and toxicology have more than fulfilled the initial hopes and expectations. The sequence of pathological changes in the acute, sub-acute and chronic stages has been clearly delineated. Structurally, continuing respiratory impairment in a proportion of cases resulted in progressive pulmonary damage, including desquamate pneumonitis, fibroins alveoli is, or its variants, like DIPF and GIPF.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Urban expansion indeed, has put enormous stress on various resources. The most fundamental necessities for urban expansion are space, raw materials, energy, water supply and waste disposal sites. The water resource development plays an important role in achieving the multifaceted growth.

The multi dimensional growth of any city without proper planning will lead to disaster as in the case of much hyped silicon city of India “Bangalore” which was in the recent news due to heavy rain fall. The proper urban sprawl and multidate analysis of satellite will help in future planning & help to restrict the occurrence of such events in future due to natural calamities. In past proper emphasis on water resources has not been given in planning of cities (urban area). Therefore, there is a need for planning of urban area with proper emphasis on water resources using GIS &remote sensing data. This will make planning water friendly and also our surroundings cleaner and healthier for a better future.

Water resources are extremely sensitive and once degraded would take hundreds and even thousand of years to revive. Urban planners will have to give priority to conserve, protect and economic use of water resources. Every planning should have the essence of being a “Water Resource Friendly”.

An attempt has been made through this paper to review the impact on water resources (surface and sub surface) of Bhopal Urban & suburban areas.

 Urban development is synonymous to improved socio- economic upliftment but faulty planning leads to disaster, water is indispensable for mankind, and Ground water is one of the prime resources of fresh water. Water is a wonderful gift of nature. Many other things useful for life can be built, constructed, made or collected, but this treatment cannot be given to water moreover, for producing all the necessities of life water is a very important source.

The major objective of this paper is assessment of water resources for Bhopal city and its environs using remote sensing and GIS. The exploration and evaluation of water resources depends on various methods and criteria, geology, geomorphology, structures, hydrology and factors governing the development of water resources regime. An attempt has been made to assess the water resources of Bhopal city based on the above factors.

Looking to the crises in the Bhopal city the entire hydrogeomorphological study was proposed for the area, hence the study area lies in longitude 77o 11′ East to 77o38′ and latitude 23o 05′ North to23o26′ which is bound by Sehore district in the western part and Raisen in the eastern and Hoshangabad in the southern, in northern part it is surrounded by Berasia tehsil, administratively.

Physiographically the area can be divided in northern small hilly area and rest undulating sloping area. The general slope is towards North and south eastern side. In the North eastern side lies river Halali, south eastern side lies Kalisot River and to south western side small Nallas that drain out in Kolar river. Which ultimately joins River Narmada.

 It is an irony that even the “city of lakes” is no exception to water crisis that is fast becoming a global phenomenon. The water crisis in Bhopal has made headlines over the last few years

Bhopal, the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh in India has been facing a fast rate of urban development and industrialization, over the last decade population growth was about per year 3.5%, quite higher than the national average of 2%. This has brought about an adverse impact on the available precious water resource.

Bhopal, which is endowed with a number of water bodies developed over a period of about 900 years, is yet facing the problem of decline of water bodies; there is need of a serious thought to this issue.

 The identified study area for Bhopal has 16 major water bodies covering an area of 7019.49 hectares. These water bodies are being put to different uses such as water supply, Irrigation, washing, recreation and fisheries etc. water bodies are presently in different ecological status. Detailed information about these water bodies are presented in table -1

Table -1 Water bodies of Bhopal – area, status and use

 The water supply schemes in Bhopal have been developed in different phases depending on the projected requirement from time to time. The three land mark decisions for augmenting the supply where:

The future water demand projection depending on the population growth rates indicates that water demand in year 2031 for Bhopal city would increased to118MGD. The present identified schemes would not be able to meet such high demand thus there is a need to look for alternative options such as:

The urban expansion indeed has put enormous stress on various resources. The most fundamental are space, raw materials, energy, water supply and waste disposal sites. The water resource assessment, availability and development plays an important role in shaping the cities. The gap between supply and demand is increasing, seeing the fact the methodology adopted in the study area involves thematic map generation from Remote sensing data and their integration through GIS. Geological map, Geomorphologic map, Structural map and Lineament maps are prepared (Fig.1,2and3).Using visual interpretation of satellite data followed by selective field checks. Drainage map is also prepared giving an idea of slope and drainage pattern. For integration all the maps are converted into digital format in GIS and final output map of Hydrogeomorpholoy is prepared, based on class and various combinations a final out put map is generated. With various structures and other features marked on it.

Depending upon class, intervals and underlying Lithology the structures are proposed such as Nalla bund, stop dam, check dam, sub surface dykes, percolation tanks and recharge pits, that can be used by the planners while taking planning decisions.

Figure-1

Figure-2

Figure-3

 Water resources have become the casualty of intensive urbanization. Pollution of water bodies, lakes, rivers and contamination of precious groundwater. The Bhopal city is no exception to this and over a period of time, grave situation has cropped in. The high nitrate concentration is due to disposal of untreated sewage through open and unlined drains / Nallas and indiscriminately dumping of solid wastes without considering Hydrogeological situations.

The important part of urban development is sanitary system that is being given least priority. This can be achieved by designing better sewerage system for the entire city with provision of sewage treatment plants.

The water level has gone up to 150 meters below ground level. The reason is not very far to seek. The main trouble is that we have been siphoning the water out and we have forgotten to give back what we have drawn by means of recharging the water sources.

A considerable portion of the ground is covered with relatively impermeable layers of various paving materials; infiltration and evaporation are almost nil and most precipitation runs off.

In fact we should store at least 90%, if not the full amount of water which nature give us. To full fill the ever-increasing demand of water it is necessary to collect the water in water bodies and recharging the ground water sources. This is the only Mantra to improve the water level.

The main factors responsible for ground water resource development assessments are geology, geomorphology, lineaments; hydrology etc. Water potential zones are demarcated as high low and medium, sewage system for entire city has been identified. Rain water harvesting and water resource action plan is also proposed and characteristics of suitable land fill sites have been discussed (Fig. 4).

The drainage system of an area gives important clues of the sub surface conditions, which helps in deciphering ground water condition of that area. Water divide zones are delineated with the help of drainage map because; the zones where no percolation of water takes place are not suited for ground water storage.

The solid waste management is also an important aspect. Wherein best suitable land has been selected looking to the available topography and geological condition of the city. Safe distance from habited area suitability of treated affluent.

Rainwater harvesting is very important for urban development as the soil surface exposed to recharge gets drastically reduced and hence recharge gets diminished.

Figure-4

 Water resources are extremely sensitive and once degraded would take hundreds and even thousand of years to revive. Urban planners will have to give priority to conserve, protect and economic use of water resources. Every planning should have the essence of being a “Water Resource Friendly”.

Study of geology, geomorphology, lineaments, hydrology and Preparation water resource action plan with the help of remote sensing data and GIS application will give immense help to urban planners in preparation of master plan of any city, viz. location of recharge structures, land use, to tap surface run off and water potential zones. Solution of water is with in the development area itself.

It is expected that the study results if implemented would shape up the water scenario of Bhopal in an eco-friendly direction and scale down the overall exploitation thereby maintaining the equilibrium between the recharge and discharge.