Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The government has released the draft master plan of Bhopal for the fourth time in 20 years. The draft issued thrice earlier was scrapped.
Now, the residents of the state capital wait to see whether the draft gets changed in the final publication.
Cancellation of the draft, after objections, hearings, and disputes, has become part of the system in Bhopal.
Whenever the government releases the draft master plan, people start making allegations and counter-allegations.
After the release of every draft, the residents say there had been efforts to benefit a few people. To rid of these allegations, the government annuls the draft.
Earlier than the present master plan, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government brought it in 2009. But the government scrapped the draft after various allegations.
The Kamal Nath-led government released it in 2020, but after the Nath government fell and the BJP government returned to power, it rescinded the plan.
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led government published the draft plan in 2023. It was the government's third attempt to publish the plan.
The BJP formed the government again, but Mohan Yadav became the chief minister, who cancelled the draft. Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced the cancellation of the draft.
This time, the state government informed the Supreme Court in connection with the use of residential plots for commercial purposes that it would soon publish the master plan.
The government also informed the apex court that it would go for the final publication of the master plan after the court's approval.
Against this backdrop, the residents may hope that the government will implement the master plan.
If the government fails to implement the plan this time, it will incur the wrath of businessmen and residents. The government, too, wants to implement it now.
There is no sweet without sweat. So if the government has to sweat, it should do so. But it should implement the master plan this time to stop the haphazard development of the city.
