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Urbanisation and Environment: A Case of Bhopal

Article  in  SSRN Electronic Journal · January 2018

DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3198684

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 International Conference on Urban Sustainability: Emerging Trends, Themes, Concepts and Practices

URBANISATION AND ENVIRONMENT: A CASE OF BHOPAL

Mrunmayi Wadwekar *, Anand Wadwekar **

*
Mrunmayi Wadwekar (Project Associate, CIEPSCMP, SPA Bhopal)
**
Anand Wadwekar (Assistant Professor, SPA Bhopal)

ABSTRACT: Post-independence, urbanization in India primarily looked at growth and expansion while
neglecting the environment and nature in cities. Tier II cities like Bhopal are also on the same trajectory with
intense growth in recent years. However, the city has been without a development plan for the past 12 years.
This issue alone has contributed to several problems with respect to the interaction of environment to the urban
development and the people living therein.
The paper aims to identify how regulations or the lack thereof shape the environment and its relationship to
the city and suggest some possible solutions to address this.

I. INTRODUCTION from – Bhojpur, Sehore and Mendua village. Upper

Post-independence, urbanization in India primarily
looked at growth and expansion and as an evident
phenomenon in cities neglecting the important concern
for environment and nature in cities. The recent cases of
flooding in Mumbai and Houston, Texas brings out
perils of insensitive urban development which do not
consider urban ecologies as primary base layer for
planning and design. Bangalore, another city in India
with rich natural heritage is facing problems due to poor
management of its resources.
The impact of urbanization on environment and
resources can be summarized through following
diagram:
Lake, in present day Bhopal had an overarching impact
on the surrounding regions. The ecology flourished
because of the creation of the Upper Lake. This region
of the Malwa plateau was home to a large tribal
population consisting of The Gond and Bhil tribes. They
were mainly peasants and hunters directly dependent on
the bounties of nature. The ecological richness achieved
because of the Upper Lake created the perfect
environment for the settlement of the tribal population.
In recent decades, the city of Bhopal has witnessed
intense urbanization. The population of Bhopal grew
from 600000 in 1970s to 18 lakh as per Census 2011.
The city has seen an intense growth in recent year due to
rapid change in economic investments in urban sectors,
inter-city mobilities and regional connectivity.

Fig. 1 Causes of depletion of Natural Resources

II. Bhopal
Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh, is an amalgam
of natural scenic beauty and artificial lakes. Dost
Mohammed, an Afghan soldier, was the founder of the
existing city. The Upper lake (Bada Talab) was created
in the early-11th century by King Bhoj by construction
of an earthen dam across the Kolans River, a rain-fed Fig. 2 Urban sprawl map of Bhopal
tributary of the Betwa River. Source: Directorate of Town and Country Planning,
Bhopal
In order to understand the importance of blue and green
in the city, the development of ecology of Bhopal is III. Environmental status
critical to be considered. Bhopal has a distinct definite Bhopal city has ample natural beauty with its undulating
topography. In the early 11th Century, Raja Bhoj, topography and many lakes. However, the urbanisation
created cyclopean masonry dams and was able to retain trends and its subsequent destruction have left the city
water and achieve the creation of a vast lake stretching shorn of its well-known beauty. Problems with
 International Conference on Urban Sustainability: Emerging Trends, Themes, Concepts and Practices
degrading environmental quality are increasingly
evident.
The city, once placed among the greenest cities of India
is fast losing its tag of green city. According to a study
by researchers from IISc Bangalore, Bhopal lost its
vegetative cover of 92% in 1977 to 21% in 2014. The
study predicts degradation of the same to 11% by 2018
and to just 4% by 2030 if the city administration
continues to work on the same policies (Bharath Aithal,
2016).
There are also problems with the water quality and
encroachment of various lakes in Bhopal. Upper lake is
also facing problems of pollution. Water quality of
Upper Lake which could be directly used till a few years
back now needs at least primary treatment before
consumption. Among the other lakes too, problems with
the quality of water are noticed. Several of them are in
various stages of eutrophication (LCA, 2006). Also,
according to a study by an independent newspaper in
Bhopal, among the 31 registered lakes in and around
Bhopal only 21 exist as of 2016 while 11 have been
permanently lost (Team DB Post, 2016).
Groundwater in the city is also facing problems of
depletion and degradation. The localities in and around
Union Carbide are affected due to severe contamination
in the soil and ground water. In other areas of the city,
pollution of groundwater sources due to improper
disposal of waste water is being identified through
scientific studies (Sonal Trivedi, 2012) (Ashwini
Wanganeo, 2007) (Shahpura lake pollution, 2013).
The air quality is suffering due to decreasing green cover
and increasing vehicular movement within the city. The
traffic has increased all across the city and leads to traffic
congestion in several areas during peak hours (Mehta
and Mehta Associates, 2006). The landfill site at
Bhanpur is causing respiratory illnesses among women
and children in nearby localities with 93% of them
claiming difficulties (Team DB Post, 2016).
The problems with the environmental quality of the city
are now getting focus among media and citizens alike.
Fig. 3 Newspaper report highlighting the problems with
environmental quality
Source: Compiled by Authors (DB Post, Dainik
Bhaskar, HT, TOI)
A. Urbanization Issues in Bhopal
The continuing degradation of the environment of the
city has happened over the past few years due to the
indisposition and lack of initiation from the local
authorities. The last master plan that was approved for
the city was in 2005. The later editions did not earn
approval from the people and executive alike and
therefore the city is progressing without one for the past
11 years.
The absence of Master plan has meant that the city has
expanded into outer fringe areas without infrastructure
services and urban planning guidelines. This has led to
mushrooming of gated communities and townships and
uncoordinated urban growth in the peri-urban areas of
Bhopal.
Agricultural lands in the vicinity of the city are being
bought by land speculators and that has led to increasing
prices as well as loss of agricultural land and associated
livelihoods. This has directly contributed to degradation
of the environmental quality of the city and the peri
urban areas. The vegetation in the peripheral areas has
reduced as also there is depletion in the groundwater
levels. Continuous assessment of the groundwater
resources in the tehsil shows decreasing levels of
groundwater yield over the years (Board, 2014) (Singh,
2017).
The other seemingly hidden impacts on the environment
are ones which typically have a longer impact and far
more damage. A study on impacts of urbanisation on
surface and sub surface flows conducted for Bhopal city
concluded that because of the natural topography and
geological characteristics, storm events have manifested
themselves in an altogether different manner; and that
urbanisation not only magnified peak discharges but also
created new peak discharges. Therefore, the floods of
any magnitude now occur more frequently. Increasing
urban flooding events in the recent years have been a
testament to this study (TNN, 2016) (Sheetal Sharma,
2013).
B. The Case of Ground Water in Bhopal
To assess the impacts of urbanisation, a study area was
selected within the city that had seen rapid urbanisation.
As assessed from the current and past trends, the south
of the city was found to have seen rapid development in
the recent decades. This composed of 5 wards along
Hoshangabad road, a major axis of the city.
 International Conference on Urban Sustainability: Emerging Trends, Themes, Concepts and Practices

Table 2 FRAGSTATS Analysis

Unit 1972 1992 2000 2011 2016 Observation Analysis
Total area (TA) ha 6020.4 6022.9 6027.5 6027.5 6017.4
Number of number 1799 3657 5555 4085 5880 number of patches landscape has
Patches (NP) have increased from become fragmented
1972 to 2016
Patch Density per 100 29.882 60.718 92.161 67.772 97.717 patch density increases Fragmentation of
(PD) ha from 1972 to 2016 landscape is
increasing over the
years
Largest Patch % 11.414 14.566 4.0833 7.9131 3.5782 LPI is decreasing from Since, it quantifies
index (LPI) 1972 to 2016 domination by a
particular patch type,
the values indicate
loss of patch size
Patch Richness number/ 5 6 6 6 6 The values have nearly different patch types
(PR) ha remained constant have remained
constant
Patch Richness number/ 0.0831 0.0996 0.0955 0.0995 0.0997 The values have nearly
Density (PRD) ha remained constant
Shannon's 1.5938 1.6705 1.6871 1.732 1.7764 SHDI is increasing over Fragmentation of
Diversity Index the years landscape is
(SHDI) increasing diversity of
patches
Modified 1.5788 1.5732 1.6066 1.6839 1.7604 MSIDI is increasing Fragmentation of
Simpson's over the years landscape is
Diversity Index increasing diversity of
(MSIDI) patches

Source: (Jogdand, 2017)

IV. Suggestions and Proposals

The Groundwater depletion in the study area as well as
on the fringes will lead to inequitable distribution of
resources among the residents with the economically
stronger ones affording to use alternate means to extract
and utilize the water.
Fig. 4 Map showing study area The predominant problem in Indian cities is of non
Source: (Jogdand, 2017) regulation of groundwater extraction and distribution. As
To further assess the impacts of urbanization, remotely a result, people (mostly farmers) on the fringes tend to
accessed data was used to study temporal land use and sell the water to the needy.
land cover change. Four type of land use categories were Adoption of policies like the Model Groundwater Bill
identified for analysis namely: Agriculture, Built-up, 2016 can enable the local authorities to limit and restrict
Barren and others. Later, a stream order map was the extraction of water. However, only few states in India
generated which when superimposed with the built-up have adopted the policy and Madhya Pradesh is not
revealed the pattern of watershed modification. The among them.
same raster images were then used for FRAGSTATS Also, rejuvenation of the available resources should be
analysis that revealed the changes to the vegetation and taken up immediately through Rain water Harvesting.
landscape of the areas. However, again the Bhumi Vikas Adhiniyam or the
The analysis showed that agriculture reduced by 45% Development rules of Madhya Pradesh state do not
while built up increased by almost 260% from 1972 to consider public areas or roads as a potential source for
2016 as depicted in Table 1. recharge. Including them in the rules and effective
Streams of the first and second order streams essential implementation of the existing rules will serve the twin
for carrying the storm flushes are blocked or modified problems of urban flooding and groundwater recharge.
thereby modifying the watershed V. Conclusion
The overall landscape has become fragmented over the Urbanisation can thus manifest itself temporally and
years and that there is loss of biodiversity as depicted in spatially by altering the hydrological cycle, modifying
Table 2. the topography and natural drainage while also
Table 1 Land cover change increasing surface runoff and reduced recharge zones.
Land use / Land cover change
1972 1992 2000 2011 2016 % change
Urbanization creates impervious surfaces which instead
Agriculture 3524.03 3234.12 2968.42 2300.81 1906.86 -45.89 of infiltrating the water allow it to flow directly towards
Built up 594.86 678.84 1408.28 2205.86 2129.8 258.03
Barren 522.17 1198.76 661.44 456.84 1067.38 104.41
lower areas. This increased amount of water flowing to
Other 1373.33 908.88 982.45 1060.76 911.81 -33.61 streams during storms causes larger floods, and floods
Source: (Jogdand, 2017) build to a peak faster because of the rapid flow of water
over smooth surfaces.
As we move into a more urbanized world, conserving
and preserving the natural resources should be given
utmost importance to develop sustainably for the future
generations. This can be achievable by making the
people and the administration aware of their actions
 International Conference on Urban Sustainability: Emerging Trends, Themes, Concepts and Practices

while also encouraging the same people to take more
proactive approach towards the problem.
Therefore, creating new policies and plans that preserve
the environment should be undertaken at local and
regional level. Existing policies and regulations should
be adopted with the stringent measures to achieve high
order of development. The plans and policies should be
continuously assessed to keep up with the dynamic
nature of the environment and the world in general.
Therefore, it can be established that urbanization creates
lasting impacts on the overall ecology of any area. It
alters natural processes and systems and creates alternate
systems that are problematic to the ecosystem. Poor
planning and unchecked growth often compound the
problems thereby creating stresses in the natural and
social systems.
The foremost thing that these instances provide is the
neglect of underlying ecological framework that forms
the backbone of the city. The current urbanization and
development debate should consider such critical layer
to form the overall vision.

REFERENCES
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chemical paramters of underground water sources of Bhopal.
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[3] Board, C. G. W., 2014. Dynamic Groundwater Resources
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[4] Jogdand, M., 2017. Improving Ecosystem Health through
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[6] Mehta and Mehta Associates, 2006. City Development
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[7] Shahpura lake pollution (2013) Dr. Subhash Pandey vs.
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[Online]
Available at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Water-recedes-
heroes-emerge-in-Jatkhedi/articleshow/53147269.cms

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