Bhopal: The projects once proposed in Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) are stuck and delayed due to the absence of public representatives in the council.
The BMC council had been dissolved in February 2020 and, since then, the civic body is being governed by an administrator, the divisional commissioner of Bhopal. The dates for the civic elections are yet to be announced. Till then, most of the projects of the council are bound to suffer.
Bharat Mata Temple
Once proposed, the Bharat Mata Temple at Manuabhan ki Tekri is nowhere close to even 20 per cent of its construction. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had granted land to the BMC for the purpose.
This is only one of the projects; other facilities are also stuck in the files. Boulevard Street, electric crematorium, nullahs in the new and old areas of Bhopal, roads, parks, streetlights and water pipeline laying projects are incomplete.
Nullahs a death trap
The nullahs in Rajeev Nagar, Panchseel Nagar, Bapu Nagar and near Bhadbhada were to be channeled, but even the basic maintenance has not been done. These nullahs overflow during the rains and even deaths due to drowning have been reported from these areas.
Former corporator Monu Saxena says the nullah at Rajeev Nagar overflows every time it rains. BMC had floated a tender for nullah maintenance two years ago and the project was underway. But, now, it is one of the neglected nullahs of Bhopal, he says.
Electric crematorium
Similarly, the electric crematorium was a project announced by the former Mayor, Alok Sharma, but, even after being built, the electric crematoriums are yet to function. Arun Chowdhary, a member of the Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat Samiti, says the BMC has asked the Samiti to pay the electricity bills of the electric crematoriums, but this is not feasible for them. Chowdhary says they do not have funds to pay the bills and the civic body should find a solution to this.
Boulevard Street
The Bhopal Smart City had cut down trees and had razed houses for developing Boulevard Street, but the street construction is still incomplete. The broken, ill-repaired roads of Bhopal, where even local residents have staged protests, are not maintained as officials cite funds shortage as a reason.
Streetlights
Streetlights in nearly 70 per cent of the areas of Bhopal are not functioning. The reason is that bills have not been paid by BMC to discom. Recently, MLA PC Sharma had staged a sit-in before the BMC headquarters in protest against non-functional streetlights.
