Content:

1. Left turn commissioner

2. Story of Ranital Crossroad (Square)

3. Teen Patti Crossroad ( Square): Paniharin's (a

Statue) embarrassment removed

4. Railway platform number 6: Railway station's

veil opened like this

5. Bloom Crossroad: Left Turn Commissioner

6. Bhanwartal Garden: Representative Initiative of

Site Creation

7. Culture Street

8. Dumna: The Legend of Protection

9. Gulouatal: A Con uence of History and

Environment

10.The poor class of Brijmohan Nagar have

deserted houses: Problem & opportunity- Guthi
reached the cause…!

11.Who was underestimating whom

fl
12.The city will remember ok…..action..... result….
commissioner Ved Prakash

Page 2
CHAPTER 1
Left turn commissioner

In the heart of Jabalpur city, there

is a crossroads connecting Teen Patti
Chauraha(Square), Chaitha Bridge
and Tyeb Ali Petrol Pump, which is
built on a bridge, being situated over
the Omati Nala( Drain). Since there
are nine Mehrabs(pillars) in this
bridge, and which look like doors,
hence its name was Naudra Bridge.
Naudara means one with nine gates
(Darwazo). Later it came to be known
as 'Naudara Bridge'. This is the same
Tiraha, where the famous Jyoti Talkies
of Jabalpur once used to be. When
the commercial calamity hit the
cinema halls and the land prices
started talking to the sky, the talkies
lost their existence. Not only this, but
now this has happened to countless
cinemas in Jabalpur.

This bridge was built several

decades ago (Bristish Rule), and
while making it, the then need of the
city must have been kept in mind, so
due to the increase in population and
increase in urbanization, there is no

Page 3

 need for the present day tra ic. The

bridge was becoming insu icient. For
Jabalpur, this bridge had become an
example and symbol of tra ic jam.

As soon as I reached the post of

Commissioner in Jabalpur Municipal
Corporation, I was irst informed that
the tra ic system of the city is one of
the most formidable problems here.
Before Jabalpur, I had also worked in
Gwalior ( & Bhopal & Capital Project
Administration) Municipal
Corporation, so I had prior
experience of working there. There I
had experimented with 'Free Left
Turn' in areas like Gole Ka Mandir
(Temple), Akashvani Tiraha
(Crossroad or intersection), Padma
Vidyalaya (School), Tansen Hotel and
DB Mall and that experiment was very
successful there too. Due to this,
there was great convenience in the
tra ic of Gwalior.

Is this a free left turn? (Explain it in

a simpler way in smaller sentences)
Basically a free left turn is the turn of
a road at a crowded intersection or
intersection, without crossing any
road, to the left. In the absence of
Page 4
ff
ff

f
ff
ff
ff

this, if the tra ic coming from the left

side of a road wants to turn to the left
after turning from the intersection or
intersection, but if the intersection is
jammed, then it can not go, then it
also starts to jam the tra ic more. . I
made two sections on the left side of
the road, the irst part, which was on
the right, made it safe for straight
passers, and the second part, which
fell on the left side, turning it from
the turning road added up. By doing
this, the tra ic going in the left
direction got an easy path to go
without stopping and due to this
there was no jam. Thus it started
acting as an additional route.

It is a general rule that if 15 to 20

percent of the vehicles from the free
left turn pass through their route
without crossing any other vehicles,
then there is no jam at that
intersection or intersection.

Then it happened that I took Shri RK

Gupta, the Executive Engineer of
Jabalpur Municipal Corporation,
along with me on the Naudra bridge.
Directly explained to them that we,
from Rajiv Gandhi Chowk, turn left
Page 5
ff
ff
f
ff

 and make an additional road over

Omati Nallah( Drain) to go towards
Teen Patti Chauraha(Square), then
there will be tra ic coming from the
fourth bridge of the railway. But the
problem of tra ic jam will be solved.

RK Gupta has his own original

personality. Like other municipal
engineers, they are neither quick to
say yes nor do they like to shake their
neck in denial after listening to the
instructions and suggestions of their
chief. That was my initial phase of
working in Jabalpur. I was a bit
annoyed to see them lying confused.
I thought he was one of those
engineers who used to walk on built-
in ruts. It is not in their health to take
the risk of innovating and doing
something new.

I told him Gupta ji, looks like you are

scared...? Are you scared of doing
something new?

I came to know later that he is a

di erent person made of clay. They
are very honest towards their work.
That is why they do not agree to any
work until they are completely
Page 6
ff
ff
ff

 convinced about the possibility and

success of the work to be done, and
make the blue print of that project in
their mind.

So the same thing happened in the

case of free left turn. After
deliberating on the spot for half an
hour and toiled deeply on the
consequences of that, when he
himself was convinced of my
concept, only then he agreed. After
making up his mind, the government
process of tender etc. went on and
when the work started, within six-
eight months, Jabalpur got its irst
free left turn.

The day the free left turn was

opened to the public, the working
and busy people found it comforting
to ind that new convenience. I went
there that day and stood there for an
hour or so, so that I could see with
my own eyes whether the facilities
that we had envisioned to provide to
the people were realized or not. I
found that a large number of people
were passing by with great pleasure.
They are moving quickly on their
vehicles. They do not even have to go
Page 7
f

f
to the crossroads and this
convenience has given them a
leisurely pace.

His leisure and comfort had become

my leisure and comfort. They were
getting happy, so my heart was
getting happy too. The best response
to a good work is that people get the
bene it of it and are satis ied with it.

A fun problem in Jabalpur.

Page 8
f

 CHAPTER 2
Story of Ranital Chauraha ( Square)

'Ranital' is a historical pond

excavated by Rani Durgavati, the
heroine of the Gond dynasty. Along
with this, there is also a legend that
when Asaf Khan attacked Gadha, due
to the low army in Gadha, Rani
Durgavati, as a strategy, was
retreating towards Mandala. He had a
huge army and a large stock of
weapons in Mandala. He had the
Paras stone, which had the property
of turning iron into gold. He had
thrown it into the Ranital so that it
would not fall into the hands of the
enemy.

So far no one has touched the Paras

stone, but the gem of imagination
that makes Jabalpur shine is probably
right here. But now the story is going
on, of Ranital crossing, so irst the
same. It is near this Ranital pond,
Ranital Chauraha (Square) . This
intersection too, then, had become a
pain point for the citizens due to the
complexities of the tra ic. The road,
which passes through the telegraph
o ice falling on this side, turns left
Page 9
ff

ff
f

 and leads to Garha, on its left turn is

the land of 'Pinjra Pol Gaushala Trust'.
Thus the name was Gaushala, but
there was no trace of the cowshed
there. There may have been a
cowshed there before. Two houses
and ten or twelve shops were
de initely built by encroaching on the
land of the cowshed. These shops
covered the land of the cowshed.
She had gone to Alt.

When we started thinking on

removing the encroachment there,
the people of the Gaushala Trust
were happy. The reason for their
happiness was that if the
encroachment was removed, their
land would be openly exposed to the
road and they would be able to make
proper use of it. But the problem was
that the Municipal Corporation could
not remove the encroachment on any
private land. Laws and regulations
were coming in the way. So we
conducted several rounds of talks
with the people of 'Pinjra Pol
Gaushala Trust'. From these
conversations the fact came out that
orders have already been passed

Page 10
f

from the High Court to remove the

encroachments there.

We requested the responsible

people of 'Pinjra Pol Gaushala Trust'
to donate their land to the Municipal
Corporation, in the interest of
Jabalpur city, falling towards the road
leading to Ranital and turning from
the crossing towards Gadha. Give.
We needed only twenty four
thousand eight hundred square feet
of land to take the left turn at Ranital
crossing. They were good people. He
renounced that much land in the
interest of the city. This gave us the
statutory right to intervene there.

Now the task before us was to

remove the encroachments. But Shri
Rupram Patel stood in front as a
hindrance. He had been a councilor
earlier and one of the twelve
encroachments there was also his
encroachment. With this relationship,
they were acting as umbrellas for all
the encroachers. It was to be that
since he was a political person and
social service was his religion, then
he himself neither encroached nor
allowed anyone to do it, but when the
Page 11

meaning of social service has

changed, then you can do any one
How can you expect this from now
on? So according to his nature he
tried to create a political climate in
opposition to our actions. They
started following the policy of putting
and pouring us.

We removed eleven residential

encroachments. Removal of so many
encroachments at once was a big
action for Jabalpur. So in this way we
had removed more than 80 percent
of the encroachments on that bend
of Ranital square. After this, the
Municipal Corporation also started
the process of removing about 14
shops built by encroaching on the
main road leading to Ranital.

The sel ish elements who took

advantage of the encroachments saw
that by taking advantage of the rules
and regulations, their encroachments
are not going to be saved. In such a
situation, he adopted an old and
popular tactic. To spread rumours.
He had started saying that in reality
the Corporation Commissioner is
busy in carrying out this action only
Page 12
f

 under his hidden agenda of

bene iting the Gaushala Trust. So
now I had two challenges. One is that
work must be done in the interest of
the city and secondly, even the stain
of imaginary slander done by sel ish
elements should not be allowed on
oneself. We civil servants are often
faced with such challenges, but the
real civil servants do not shy away
from discharging their duty without
being afraid of them. They also ind a
way to keep themselves impeccable
with their cleverness and generosity.

We suddenly stopped the process

of removing the shops. It was a ploy
to adopt the game strategy of those
sel ish elements and make them
swoon. After a gap of few months we
got another order from Hon'ble High
Court that those encroachments
should be removed from there. As
soon as we got this order, we also
removed the remaining
encroachments at a speedy pace
without delay.

With the removal of the

encroachments, we got enough land
to organize the Ranital square. We
Page 13
f
f

f
f

made a great free left turn there. The

intersection got beauty and the
residents got freedom from the
problem of tra ic jam. We wanted to
make another free left turn on the
other side of this free left turn, where
Subhash Medical Stores is located,
( Provide an explanation saying that
somehow any day it is going to get
demolished for lyover work), but for
some reason it was not possible. Not
done.

More about this source textSource

text required for additional
translation information

Send feedback

Side panels

(Provide a picture of before & after)

Page 14

ff



 CHAPTER 3
Teen Patti Chauraha (Square):
Paniharin's (Statue) embarrassment
removed

The square near the luxurious

building of Jabalpur Municipal
Corporation's archaeological
importance is called Municipal
Corporation Chauraha (Square). It is
located in the middle of the city and
is also very important from the point
of view of tra ic. A road comes here
after coming down from Shastri
Bridge, passing through the motor
stand. This is also the road that used
to bring the heavy tra ic of the
National Highway coming from
Nagpur side inside the city before the
bypass was built. The second road is
the one which joins here after
coming from Naudara Bridge
intersection. The third road leads to
Malviya Chowk (Square or crossroad),
which becomes more congested and
comparatively narrow. The fourth
road leaves Rajbhog restaurant and
goes towards the stadium, covering
the side of the motor stand. In this
Page 15

ff
ff
way, all the four roads are under the
pressure of heavy tra ic. For this
reason, the sensitivity of the
Municipal Corporation intersection
increases even more.

A rotary was built on this

intersection in 1973. Such a statue or
creation, by which the tra ic moves
forward, so that there is no jam there.
In those days there used to be the
mayor of Jabalpur Municipal
Corporation, Late. KL Dubey. It was
during his tenure that three
intertwined leaves were created on
this crossroad to appear to be rising
towards the sky and beneath it was
built a beautiful woman with a pot on
her shoulder. The water used to low
continuously from that pitcher and
would collect at the bottom and then
reach the pitcher.

In the year of 1980, the late

Jabalpur Mayor was elected. A
ridicule made by Mundar Sharma
about this Rotary used to resonate in
the corridors of the Municipal
Corporation even in those days when
Page 16

ff

ff
f
 I was the commissioner there.
Someone told me about that joke
too. The responsibility of installing
rotary on this intersection and
beautifying the intersection was on
the then engineer Shri SK Chaurasia.
The stature of Chaurasia (Jah) was
also much less than normal. So one
day Mundar Sharma ji smiled and told
him, that Chaurasia ji, Rotary leaves
are like my stature, but you have
allowed Paniharin (a Statue) to
remain according to your height.

Sharma ji's height was just over six

feet.

During the tenure of Sharma ji, the

work of supplying water to the city
from Narmada in Jabalpur was
started and it was started from this
intersection instead of Lalpur. For this
reason also this intersection has its
own importance. When the Rotary
was built, it used to occupy a very
large space. But it was reduced in
2011 12. (Mere aane se thoda pehle) It
may have been done because of
tra ic pressure. Possibly there must
have been such a belief of the
responsible, that by reducing the
Page 17
ff
-

 circle of the rotary, more space will

be available and there will be easier
movement. But this thinking goes
against the accepted principles of
tra ic engineering. By reducing the
circle of rotary, the space increased,
but due to the increase in the same
amount of tra ic, the percentage of
jamming also increased. In the
evening, it took such a terrible form
that it was considered a canker.
Photographs of tra ic jams were
often published in newspapers and
there was criticism of the Municipal
Corporation and the tra ic police.

It would be interesting to give an

incident-anecdote here. In 2014, a
meeting of o icers was organized in
the Mayor's o ice room to ind a
solution to the tra ic problems.
Mayor, Collector, Municipal
Corporation Commissioner, I and
Superintendent of Police were also
present in it. During the discussion,
the reference to the rotary to be
installed at the intersections also
came up, so I asked, 'What about the
rotary? For tra ic regulation, only a
large rotary is suitable, not a small

Page 18
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
ff
f

 one. He should be removed from

there.

On hearing this, the then Mayor

became furious. In fact, he had done
the beauti ication of the Municipal
Corporation square, and reduced the
circle of Rotary. Due to his anger, all
the o icers became silent and the
meeting came to an end. The days of
the dwarf Paniharin (a Statue) did not
return. He had to wait for a few more
days. The crossroads also remained
the same.

New municipal elections were held

in 2015. Dr. Swati Godbole got
elected as the new mayor. I explained
them in detail about intersections,
tra ic pressure and principles of
tra ic engineering. She agreed and I
got the freedom to work.

(Provide a sub headline: Magic

Wand has made it disappear in 5
hours) March-April was the month. I
had instructed the anti-
encroachment team of the Municipal
Corporation to start work from 4
o'clock in the morning. All pre-
preparations were made for the post-
Page 19
ff
ff
ff

 encroachment work also. I saw that

our team had arrived on time. The
work started and just an hour later, at
ive o'clock in the morning, the rotary
was removed from the municipal
chowk (Square). By 9 o'clock in the
morning, the work of asphaltization
was also completed there. Tra ic was
also running smoothly. Later, soon
tra ic signals were also installed
there and tra ic was regulated there.
(To emphasize the speed of work we
need write a paragraph on the
conversations of passerby)

(Modify it. This should be conveyed

through conversations of citizens
passing by that square & newspaper
headlines rather than writing it
directly) &

( Provide Pictures of Newspaper

Headlines of that day)

But if the work of public interest

should be done and there should not
be any disturbance in it, where is it
possible. So there was trouble here
too. Poha-tea sellers had additionally
put hand carts on the road in two

Page 20
f
ff

ff

ff
shops built in the municipal building
itself.

Page 21


CHAPTER 4
Railway platform number 6: Railway
station's veil opened like this

Jabalpur Railway Station has a long

history. There are many heritages
there even today. Initially the main
entrance was on the side of platform
number one, later the platform was
obliterated and two to four and now a
total of six platforms have been
made. Railway zone has also been
formed. Entrance gates have been
made on both sides of the railway
station for the movement of
passengers and their families
traveling due to all reasons. Most of
the tra ic was from platform number
one side as the exterior of the
entrance on platform number six side
was vulnerable to encroachment.
Apart from this, it was also narrow
and there was di iculty in movement
of vehicles and there was a jam.
Hardly a rickshaw could pass. If a
rickshaw was coming from the other
end also, it was necessary to struggle
even to save even a yarn gap
between the two. There were some
20 shops of the Municipal
Corporation on this route, which
Page 22
ff

ff

were taken out on rent. On the right

side of the road was the forest
department's o ice wall and on the
station side was railway land. There
was also land leased by the Municipal
Corporation. A building was built on
it and two hotels were open in it -
Vikram and Bengali Hotel. There was
also a big liquor store there.

I thought about making the

movement better and smoother on
the entry road towards platform no.
Records were perused and it came to
light that the lease of the building
which housed the hotels and liquor
shops has not been renewed.
Without this, it could have been
removed, so I targeted it. The
Municipal Corporation gave him a
notice to vacate. The leasehold
businessmen iled an appeal in the
High Court against the order of
cancellation of the lease of the
corporation, but they did not get any
relief from there. This accelerated the
pace of our work.

The irst thing we did was to take

the railway o icials into con idence.
They also knew that this is a golden
Page 23
f
ff
f
ff

opportunity to facilitate movement

on the entry road towards Platform
No. 6. So he also did not hesitate to
cooperate. Within two-three days, we
made a complete plan and the anti-
encroachment squad of the
corporation was present on the spot
early in the morning. Demolition of
the building started. The next day we
came to know that the businessmen
who got the leased goods are going
to move the Supreme Court against
the decision of the High Court.

At ten o'clock in the morning there

was a call from a Senior O icer of
Urban Administration that the anti-
encroachment action should be
stopped for one and a half hours. I
told them that I would inspect the
situation and get the proceedings
stopped. On the other hand, the
squad was advised to complete their
work within half an hour. The squad
completed their work in half an hour.
The Vikram Hotel had been
vandalized. As soon as I got the
information about this, I informed the
Senior O icer of Urban
Administration on the phone, that the

Page 24
ff
ff

 proceedings have been stopped as

per his instructions.

There was no longer a need for

swift action to remove the remaining
encroachments. (Replace this The
cause of defamation of the Court was
over. with 'No further stay could have
been taken') Later on, we also
removed the twenty running shops
there after keeping some gaps. The
Forest Department's o ice was
requested to move its boundary wall
for generations in public interest. The
department cooperated and from
there we took a left turn. Footpaths
were also made on both sides of the
ten road. The entrance crossing was
also given a systematic look. To
develop this, it took almost three
months to make drains etc.

Jabalpur railway station is facing

platform number one only, but due to
most of the city being in the direction
opposite to platform number six, the
route on this side receives maximum
tra ic. Even metro buses are being
operated from this side. The railway
station, which was never visible
before on the road leading to Indira
Page 25
ff

ff

Market via the High Court, can now

be seen in its full form. He doesn't
have to be ashamed of stealing his
eyes or not seeing. Railway has also
built a beautiful building on this side,
which also has a food plaza.

Page 26


 CHAPTER 5
Bloom Chowk (Crossroad or
Square): Commissioner with Left
Turn

Left turns were being made one

after the other in Jabalpur, due to
which the tra ic system of the city
was coming to a standstill. Whenever
there was a meeting of councilors in
the Municipal Corporation, the
challenge was often raised by the
opposition that there is a huge
problem of jamming at Bloom
Chowk(Square) too. Just show it
there by making a free left turn. It
was not only a challenge, it also had
political satire. At one turn of Bloom
chowk (Square) was a residential
house built on the leased land of
Municipal Corporation. A free left
turn had already been made there,
reducing the leased land. On the
second turn, there is a grand building
of the commercial automobile of the
well-known businessman of the city,
Mr. Kailas Gupta. Gupta ji is also a
politically in luential person. The
opposition was apprehensive that not
even an inch of ghost could be taken
from them.
Page 27

ff
 Without taking the land on their
side, a free left turn could not be
made. There it was as much
imperative to make a free left turn as
it was on the turn in front of it. I took
time to meet him one day. Spoke to
him respectfully. The need of the
Municipal Corporation and proposed
their contribution in favor of the city.
It didn't take long for them to decide
to give their land. He is a powerful
person, he is also humble and good-
natured. I also learned that the public
image of a person gives an
introduction to him, but the real
identity is himself. One may be
mistaken in judging someone by
perceptions, but a face-to-face
meeting gives them a complete and
true realization.

After making a personal meeting I

thought that if Mayor Dr Swati
Godbole herself is taken to him and
goes to him again, then it will be an
expression of Gratitude towards him
and it will be a great respect. So I
spoke my mind to the mayor. They
agreed immediately. And then both
of us went to him in a way expressing

Page 28

our gratitude to him and also

received a warm welcome.

With the cooperation of Gupta ji, a

free left turn was also made on his
side and the tra ic coming from
Bhanwartal Garden towards Shastri
Bridge got facilitated. This road
further connects to Nagpur Highway.

So in those days due to similar

reasons and facilities available to the
public, the graph of popularity of free
left turn in Jabalpur was increasing
continuously. And I was astonished
that day, when the incident came up
in a meeting of the General Assembly
in the Municipal Corporation, a
councilor addressed me as , ‘Left
Turn Commissioner'.

Often work is known by name, but

this time my name was being known
by my work.

Page 29


ff

CHAPTER 6
Bhanwartal Garden: Representative
Initiative of Site Creation

When plans were being made to

redesign the Bhanwartal Garden in
Jabalpur, two parallel thoughts were
running through my mind. One is to
develop it as a place in the city,
where people get the attracted to
come & other is that they experience
peace & satisfaction. May their
children and the women of the house
feel free from the monotony of their
daily activities. Secondly, the place
should be able to meet its
maintenance expenses on its own. If
possible, it can also give some part of
its income to the Municipal
Corporation and contribute in the
next phases of development.

So to assure you of my point, I also

have a direct proof, the entry fee per
person in Bhanwartal Garden is ive
rupees and it earns on an average 50
thousand rupees per day. This is true.
In the busiest of days of civilian life,
an average of 15,000 people arrive
there. That garden then has a
wonderful atmosphere. Men and
Page 30

f
women with happy hearts and
children are seen chirping there.
Their locks seem to be immersed in
joy over the greens, fountains, velvet
grass and walkways.

When I was the commissioner of

Gwalior Municipal Corporation, I got
the opportunity to develop a Chhota
Bal Bhav Bagh. When he was ready,
he was greatly appreciated.

When I was posted as

Commissioner of Jabalpur Municipal
Corporation, one day Mr. Anil Mishra,
in-charge of Bhanwartal Garden.
(include month & year: in the month
of July, 2013) came to me and
requested that I visit the garden. I
immediately agreed, after all it was a
matter of the garden. Going there I
saw that it is comparatively a bit
sloppy and low lying land. During the
rainy season, there is water logging
for a few months. This damages the
plants and it also takes many months
of winter to beautify the garden. So
the garden is of no use for anyone for
seven-eight months of the year.
People would not even come.

Page 31
f

 Actually Bhanwartal Garden, in its

original form, used to be a pond
named Bhanwartal. In course of time
he became old. Then it may be that
being in the middle of the city, there
would have been a place to dump
garbage etc. Then the municipal
corporation would have converted it
into a garden.

I saw that on one side of the

garden there is an o ice of the
Garden Department and there are
also residential quarters of the
employees. A part of the garden was
razed by a gymnasium (used to be
there). The place was evacuated from
him, but his debris still accumulated
there. I started thinking and
imagining his future form. A blueprint
was beginning to form. I directed the
responsible sta of the corporation
that a skating ring should be made
for the children on that land, ( add
this as explanation: because a skating
ring created by me in Lal Bhavan
Gwalior brought a lot of joy to the
children of Gwalior

Then after some interval there was

a second visit to the garden. Now
Page 32

ff

ff
 keeping in mind the totality of the
entire garden, I began to draw a
blueprint in my mind. His next step
became the relentless cycle of
stubbornness and passion. First of all,
the study of land label was done. The
work of illing the soil on the sloping
places started.

(Add this: Competion for the supply

of soil brought complaints. I was
concentration on - how much soil will
be used, where will it be poured, how
will the landscape be made, etc.)

When the work on the Bhanwartal

Gardens plan started, the work of
designing and implementing the plan
illed my day with new adventures.
On the one hand, the plans for the
garden and skating ring etc. were
being inalized and on the other hand
some work was started even before
the contract was awarded from the
department's own resources, such as
relocating the existing garden o ice
there. carry on Relocating the
personnel living there and
dismantling the quarters.

Page 33
f
f
f

ff

 So in every kind of process, one's

interests were hampered and there
was also a possibility of serving
someone's interest.

Create an appropriate transition from

last sentence to next sentence) I kept
on winning battles and with each
next step, I got stronger than before.
So the o ice was removed, the
quarters were removed, the platform
was removed, the dilapidated
children's railway path was removed.
The shops were occupied. A
protracted battle ensued in the court
and he was also removed. The duck
shed was removed. And one night,
even two dinosaurs that had been
built for many years suddenly
disappeared from there. The spaces
became empty and the garden took
its shape.

Culture Street was also built in a

part of this, there was a struggle for
that too, but it has been written
separately.

I found that removing the curbs and

other structures inside the garden in
the interest of the garden is just as
Page 34
ff

important, as is the disorganized

chain of Ashoka trees. We also
removed them in pieces. I mainly
wanted to plant trees like Spathodia,
Saptparni, Bamboo and Pride of
India. (Add this as reason: They grow
faster and aesthetically more
attractive and compatible foliage
with local lora).

We created the irst landscape in the

swimming pool area. It gave a
glimpse of what the overall look of
the garden would be like in the
future. So we should not have any
confusion in the minds of our public
representatives about Bhanwartal
Garden, but to create a sense of trust
and pride in their minds, for this, we
organized a plantation program there
and in that program the public
representatives invited to plant
saplings.

I used to tell the then Mayor ji often

when the incident came, that he
should have faith, when Bhanwartal
Garden is ready, it will be in its
unique and polished form. There was
variety in the types of works in
Bhanwartal Gardens. The work was in
Page 35

f
 pieces. If the tree is to be planted,
then there will be a di erent type of
process and contract. If the path has
to be made, then a di erent type. If a
pool has to be made, it is of a
di erent type. Twenty- ive iles.
Twenty- ive approvals. Twenty- ive
obstacles. Then work.

The garden's two amp theaters

continued to take their shape from
the wood of the year, as it was once
heard in childhood for the wood of
the year - 'Saunda baras khada,
hundred years pada, toh barley bhar
rota'.

To make the water structures a

permanent and low-maintenance
structure and to make it panoramic,
granite rows were used. This water-
structure should not su er the same
fate as the water-structures built by
the banks of all the municipalities,
where some algae, mosquito larvae
and jumping frogs keep feeling their
eternity, for this the water is regularly
watered. The work of setting up a
treatment plant to recycle it
continued.

Page 36
ff

ff
ff

f
ff
f
f
 Remove this: And to reward us, Add
this: Garden's work was
uninteruptedly going on and
complaints were leveled by the
Lokayukta team.

Then we converted the ruined

aquarium into an open gazebo.
Public facilities were developed on
the three ears of the garden.
(Rephrase this sentence: All the
elements of the garden have been
integrated in such a way that they do
not appear separate and separate
from each other, even if they are not
far away, and their usefulness and
importance are also full of their
individuality.)

Tree-top platforms and swings for

children, walkways for adults, water
structures, fountains and a bridge
connecting to the food counter,
reminiscent of the old bridge from
the movie 'Deewar' and pulls on its
side , were created.

Where thousands of people come

and go, maintaining cleanliness is no
less challenging task, but we have
done the work of creating
Page 37

arrangements and mentality to carry

it out with utmost care. Our daily
wage worker named (Om Prakash
Dube) Dubey took this responsibility
and made the garden synonymous
with cleanliness.

The pressure of people's

expectations and early care has given
this garden a better appearance,
which will continue year after year. It
is one such example of how the
initiative of institutions, people's
engagement and constant
monitoring of the media bear fruit.

We preferred building materials like

wood and stone in Bhanwartal
Garden to keep the garden as natural
as possible and at least arti icial. So
we tried to make the view of the
garden something like this -

( Rewrite this part, in a descriptive

way so that readers can visualize the
ongoing interactions scene:

It is dawn and thousands of people

are walking there on their morning
walk,

Page 38

It is evening and thousands of

children are having fun over there.
Their playfulness is breaking the wall
of taboos, they are running, falling,
performing gulatis(acrobatics) in the
vast landscape of the garden,

Breaking the cycle of their daily

routine, there are innumerable
women and girls walking silently,
talking, rejoicing with the feeling of
their independent existence,

People who believe in di erent

religions, sects and beliefs,
unknowingly ful illing the social
conditions of coexistence, are living
there,

Men and women are doing yoga in

the morning,

Opportunities for solitude

contemplation are available to
religious people,

Artists have gathered to exchange

ideas on their next project,

The creators have come there to take

inspiration to write,
Page 39

ff

Thinkers have stopped the search for

a suitable place there to create new
theories,

The sense of insecurity is completely

missing in young women and there is
no place for indecency,

The whole garden has turned into an

open school, an all-rounder one, for
the lessons of gender equality, for
sarva dharma sambhava, for
accepting generosity towards
diversities and for crushing the
longings of collective enjoyment. For
the empowerment of the society.)

Bhanwartal Gown is a living example

in terms of ful illing the lofty
objectives behind site-building. It is a
caring act. Come, experience once,
know and imbibe.

Here the heart of Jabalpur beats!End

this chapter with latest beautiful
picture of Bhavartal Garden.

——————

Page 40

CHAPTER 7
Culture street

(Put a picture of Old Culture Street)

Bhanwartal Garden is in the middle of
Jabalpur city. It ranks as one of the
most preferred destination for city
dwellers due to its connectivity with
transportation facilities.(Please
remove this as it is diluting the
drastic change which Bhabartal
Garden has seen. Now the number of
men and women and children going
there has increased even more. The
interest of people towards
Bhanwartal Garden has increased
due to Osho's Bodhi tree, the statue
of Queen Durgavati, a small reservoir,
the artistic form given to the plants,
lawn grass and the means available
for the recreation of children. I can
say that he has become involved in
such gardens of the country, where
maximum number of people visit.
( Do't reach to conclusion at the
beginning.)

It was on our priority list. When we

were busy with the decoration and
had done a lot of work for it, we built
a food court there. While we were
Page 41

 building the food court, I noticed the

old quarters behind it. Their number
must have been about 15. Half of
them had been illegally occupied and
two or three large quarters, which
were lying vacant due to the transfer
of the residing o icers.

I found his presence in a prominent

public garden strange. On taking the
information, it was also found that
some criminal elements are also
coming and going there. There were
also complaints of alcoholism and
other such things, so I decided to
remove them from there. I did not re-
allocate the vacant quarters to any
o icer-employee. I emptied the ones
that had illegal occupants and
removed them one by one. ( Provide
a time line how long it took to remove
them and di iculty faced)

All these quarters and the o ice of

the caretakers of the garden were
located on the street facing the east
of the garden. One end of this road
with a length of about 300 meters
touches Krishna Hotel and the other
end touches Jabalpur Hospital and
Research Center. The Rani Durgavati
Page 42
ff
ff
ff

ff
State Archaeological Museum is
situated in the north direction. There
is a small art gallery in the premises
of the same museum. It is called
'Hiralal Rai Art Gallery'. In this art
gallery, exhibitions of paintings are
organized, other cultural and literary
events are also held. The art gallery
remains a center of activity
throughout the year due to its small
size and cheap rentals. Eminent
people of the main stream art and
literature of Jabalpur by performing &
organizing events have provided
credible identity of a intellectual
center.

Overwhelmed by the scale and

impact of the programs held here, I
thought that if such a pedestrian
path is made here, it will become a
new cultural identity of Jabalpur. It
will be like a pedestrian mall road for
the citizens and especially for the
youth. This will motivate the youth to
promote their cultural activities. This
will also increase the harmony of the
city. It was all just in the imagination.
Even then its name had taken its
shape in the mind - 'Culture Street.'

Page 43

 When I do some creative thinking,

and also understand the need for it in
the public interest, then it does not
take long to give it shape. The tenure
of a public servant is volatile and
uncertain. Therefore, whatever useful
contribution he has to make, he
should do it with the feeling that it
cannot be postponed to tomorrow. I
invited active and important people
from the art and cultural world of
Jabalpur the same evening to the
same place where that Culture Street
was being envisioned. I shared my
imagination and feelings with them.
They were all creative people and
they also had a deep attachment
towards ten types of creative works,
so they were very excited and happy
to hear. The future began to be
drawn. One by one, unique ideas and
ideas began to emerge. I also
consulted on a subtle to subtle action
plan and what was only a fantasy till
some time ago, now it started taking
the form of a vision for me.

Now the work on this project had to

start and the irst requirement was to
widen the road which we wanted to
make Culture Street. Once the road
Page 44
f

 was wide, we wanted to leave a

portion of its length, and a quarter of
the total width of the road, for
vehicular movement. The remaining
three-fourths was to be used for
Culture Street, on which people can
walk, talk, discuss and spend time
creatively in a di erent environment,
without the fear of vehicles.

The place where we were going to

build Culture Street falls in Napier
Town and places like Napier Town-
Right Town have been leased out by
the Municipal Corporation to the
residents. It would be pertinent to
mention here that many localities of
Jabalpur are named after British
o icers. Although English names
have been changed over time, they
are still etched in the memories and
have made their mark in the minds of
the people. Napier Town was named
after AP Napier. He was the
commissioner of Jabalpur in 1914.
Wright Town is named after Arthur
Wright. He was the manager and
director of Perfect Pottery in the
Putlighar of Raja Gokuldas.

Page 45
ff
ff

 Because the land here is on lease, it

is owned by the Municipal
Corporation. Due to this, there is no
di iculty in using the land in need.
On the north side of this road are
Parsi Dharamshala( Hospice) and City
Hospital. So by taking them in
con idence, irst of all, the boundary
wall was reasonably pushed to the
back of him reasonably. There was
land of about 10 plot holders
(residential land holders) towards
south direction. (List out the hurdles
faced here in pushing the boundaries
of these houses) We also interacted
with them and with their cooperation
their boundaries were shifted back by
15 feet. After this extra land was
arranged, we prepared a barricade
lane of about 20 feet for vehicles.

There was a small house in the

middle. Some part of him was also
coming in this lane. An Anglo-Indian
elderly woman used to live alone in
that house. When we were getting
the other residents past the
boundary wall, they were scared for
themselves. She started thinking that
her house is just like that small, if
there is any tampering in it then she
Page 46
ff
f
f

 will be in trouble. She came to my

o ice one day to meet me and tell
me about her problems. She shared
her feelings about the trouble with
utmost sincerity and sentiment. After
listening to his words, a warning
came from within me that any kind of
su ering to elderly and lonely
women, due to our project, would be
totally unjusti ied. So I also decided
that we will not let them cause any
trouble even if our ambitious project
is not completed. If we don't have
sensibilities, then what kind of
culture and what kind of culture
street! So we protected her house
untouched. The house of sensation
remains the same.

One day all of a sudden we got a

notice from the High Court and came
to know that someone has iled a
petition that the Municipal
Corporation is closing that road for
the public, which in fact we are
closing without closing it, by making
Culture Street a part of the city. Were
going to create a unique pride. (This
shall be re lected in story and not
stated explicitly: As you may have
noticed in earlier descriptions, as
Page 47
ff
ff
f
f

f
 soon as you go on to do something
better, someone comes along with
the contrary. He paints you like a
villain. And makes you look like the
enemy of the city. It hurts your heart
deeply. You may be blown away. You
can imagine the people here and
their attitude to hell. If they don't
want something innovative, they
should Why should he be given! But a
public servant does not think this
way. If he thinks so, then he will fall
into their trap. He will fall prey to
their tricks. He follows Tennyson's
poem - I'm Ever Fighter, and One
Fight more. I am the eternal warrior,
one ight and right.

So when we got the notice, we had

done a lot of work related to Culture
Street. They had made a lane of
stone stone and had put up
barricades etc. We created a
brochure about our work and
attached several photographs of the
reality of Culture Street. The Hon'ble
High Court found that the petition
iled against the Municipal
Corporation was far from the truth.
The Hon'ble High Court dismissed
the petition. Our morale started
Page 48
f
f

 touching the sky and the contentious

people had to face obstacles. We
have planted trees like Spathodia,
and Pride of India along the sides of
the enclosures for ten purposes so
that the pedestrian path can be
completely protected in future also.
Spathodia is a di erent type of tree in
the species of lowering trees. It is
known by many names, such as
fountain tree, African tulip tree and
lame of the forest. Similarly, Pride of
India is called Jarul in Hindi and its
botanical name is Lajstroemia
Speciosa. They are 15 to 20 meters in
height. When such trees reach their
full growth, the very imagination of
how beautiful Culture Street will be,
ills us with satisfaction.

About 15 quarters on the west side

of Culture Street were evacuated,
what should be done at that place,
when the matter was discussed, the
artists of the city suggested that an
intimate theater should be built
there. It was a good advice and a
costly one. But due to the arrival of
the Smart City project (give a date),
funds were raised for it. It was built at
a cost of about Rs 14 crore. Plays will
Page 49
f
f
f
ff

be staged here. It is envisaged that

the landscape of Bhanwartal Garden
will give an artistic look to the facade
of this theatre building.

The decoration work on Culture

Street had already begun before the
lane containing the Garden O ice.
There on one hand murals of tribal
tales have been made, and on the
other hand a whole series of iron-
sculptures have been made with the
help of local artists. It is inscribed on
a long wall of 80 to 100 feet, which
has become a center of attraction for
the visitors.

Culture Street, in harmony with

Bhanwartal Garden, forms the entire
art complex into a joy- illed space.
Makes this place even more
meaningful and prosperous.

It was also thought by the Culture

Street conceptualists at the time that
the private property owners on the
east side of Culture Street would
gradually be inspired to open street
food shops and large murals on the
walls of those shops. More paintings
will be painted and then this Culture
Page 50

ff
Street will be able to compete with
the best Pedestrian Culture Streets in
the world. Yes, doubtless, it will also
take time for all this to happen, but
the infrastructure that makes it
possible has already been created
here.

We also imagine that someday this

place will become the epicenter of
the ideological revolution, for cultural
experiments, for social cohesion, for
diversifying the society and for the
retired society, witness and epicenter
of the wonderful contribution of
Jabalpur city.

End this chapter with latest beautiful

picture of Culture Street.

Page 51



CHAPTER 8
DUMNA: THE LEGEND OF
PROTECTION

The British administrators had

constructed the Dumna reservoir at a
distance of 8 km from the city, for the
supply of water to their bases and
establishments in Jabalpur in 1881 83.
From the technical and
administrative point of view, this
reservoir holds its reputation as a
great example. There is also a very
beautiful watch tower built of stones
near this reservoir. An inscription
related to its construction is also
engraved on this watch tower. The
name of the then engineer who built
it and the contractor of 'Kanpur Wale'
has also been written on it.

In those days, there was no

democracy like today in the country,
where the name of a public
representative would be mentioned
along with the opening details. But
due to this inscription, it can be
easily inferred that while on one side
the name of the engineer and the
contractor has been numbered, their
workability has been numbered, on
Page 52

-
 the other hand their responsibility for
that work has also been ixed. has
been given. It has also been
mentioned that the contractor has
donated this tower by getting it
constructed with his own money.

So the fact is that even though the

reservoir is about 140 years old, it is
still as useful today. Water can be
supplied from it if needed. There is
also a rest house near it, which
con irms the long tradition of
government rest houses. The British
administrators had built rest houses
keeping in mind their need, but the
site selection made for them is
commendable. Almost all the rest
houses, which they called rest
houses, are built in beautiful
picturesque places.

Dumna is also a natural scenic spot

of this kind. The reservoir must have
once been a dense natural forest,
which was now losing its density due
to illegal logging and grazing. It
started being included in the
category of deteriorating forest. But
it has been put on hold. Attention is
being paid to return it to its old form.
Page 53
f

 Dumna forest is spread over almost

1100 acres and is owned by Jabalpur
Municipal Corporation. Fencing work
has been done from time to time to
preserve the forest. But fencing didn't
help much. Some 10 15 years ago,
the irst e ort was made to protect
the Dumna forest, and then it was
also named 'Dumna Nature Park'. One
hundred acres of Nature Park land
was given to the IIITDM Institute by
the government in 2003 so that it
could be established.

In the beginning of the month of

April 2014, nature lover advocate Mr.
Anshuman Singh and garden in-
charge of Jabalpur Municipal
Corporation Mr. Anil Mishra. With me
I went out to visit Dumna Park.
Anshuman Singh has vast knowledge
and experience about forest areas.
He gave us important suggestions
regarding expansion of Dumna Park
etc. He said that if we have to
understand about the park
systematically and realistically, then it
is better that we take a full round of
the reservoir, and understand the
geography of the forest in its totality.

Page 54
f
ff
-

( Tell this story in more interesting

way in little bit of detail. Fill in some
conversation while trekking was
going on.) It could have taken more
than two hours to go round the
reservoir, but all three of us were
enthusiastically approaching the
reservoir. Ready to circumambulate.
We had that one trekking only. It was
eight o'clock in the morning at that
time. We started our journey. After a
while, it came to our understanding
that there is no pre-built way to
circumnavigate the reservoir. We
kept walking for two hours and we
did not even know whether we were
walking in the right way and direction
or not. Then we tried another
solution. We took the help of our
mobile GPS and igured out that if we
continue our journey by staying near
the reservoir, then we will have to
walk less. But as easy as it was to
think, it is more di icult to implement
it. There was a dense area of Lantana
grass along the fort of the reservoir.
To walk through it was to allow our
body to bleed, so we were compelled
to take the long route instead of the
short route. The late afternoon sun
was burning over our heads with all
Page 55
f
ff
​​
 its ierceness. It's one o'clock. We had
wrongly guessed that we would
complete our journey in two hours,
so we did not even carry water with
us, now due to thirst, thorns started
rising in the throats of all three of us,
lips were drying up and the head was
spinning. On a hot April afternoon
and in a rough and rugged place, the
Columbus act of making our way with
our feet had caught us in the grip of
Ankit Mishra's condition had become
so bad, that I was afraid that he might
faint Don't be If that happens, what
will we do to heal them?

We were able to reach the other side

of the reservoir with great di iculty,
with scratches from thorny bushes
on our clothes and plentiful marks of
stony ground strikes on our shoes.
Now the only solution was left, that
we should call our car parked at the
mouth of Dumna Park there and
complete the rest of the journey with
it. Called the driver and ordered the
car. Completed the rest of the
inspection from the car and as soon
as safely returned to the gate of the
park.)

Page 56
f

ff
 In spite of all kinds of physical
su ering, we also got some good
results from our journey illed with
risk and ingenuity, such as the nature
of the plot of Dumna forest area,
what are its relief facilities and why it
is needed for protection. ? A
blueprint was starting to form in my
mind. It was not very clear, but lines
were starting to be drawn on the
blank paper. The bigger advantage
was that I had developed a strong
interest in carrying out this work with
a beautiful appearance.

We went back. Sitting in my o ice, I

made a rough plan of action.
Scheduled the work schedule. First of
all, the work of fencing was started to
surround the Dumna forest area with
a fence. When the rains came, I
organized a tree plantation program
there to create interest among the
public representatives. At the same
time, it came to my knowledge that
Mr. Aditya Shukla, a municipal
engineer, is a wildlife photographer. It
is his favorite hobby. So I thought
that anyone who loves wildlife
photography will also love the
wilderness. After all, the two have a
Page 57
ff

f
ff
mutual and deep connection. So I
put Aditya in charge of Dumna
Nature Park.

The Dumna forest area was under

maximum pressure from its nearest
village, Gadheri. The people these
villages were primary involved in
harvesting and grazing. They were
also domineering and of ighting
nature. Just as the teachers take
control of the class by making the
most naughty child in the class the
monitor, I also followed the same
path, advising Aditya to ind some 'Jai
Aur Veeroon' (most remembered
characters of the popular movie,
Sholay) from the same village. They
should be put on daily wages. They
should take care of the security of
Dumna Park. Aditya not only
understood the gravity of the
suggestion, but also executed it
properly. His Jai-Veeroos also showed
such promptness, that for the irst
time, illegal grazing could not take
place inside the park. Cattle were not
allowed inside. Apart from grazing,
illegal logging could also be stopped.
The fencing also remained intact due

Page 58

f
f
f
to careful guarding, otherwise it
would have been broken earlier.

On the advice of Mr. Anshuman

Singh, the work of tree plantation
was taken up on a large scale with
the help of the army men present
there. An additional advantage of
recruiting retired army men was that
there developed a natural liking
among the army personnel towards
Dumna Park. One of the boundaries
of the park is adjacent to the army's
land, so they were committed to
protect that side, so half our
headache was taken care.

With the e orts of Anshuman Singh

ji, the honorable justices and the
advocate community also showed
keen interest in our tree plantation
program. Many communities and
regions also became stakeholders of
Dumna Park. Now we headed
towards the city. There was also a
need to create interest in the Dumna
Nature Park among the townspeople.
We explored the possibilities of
entertainment in the park. Thus the
concept of cycle path around the
reservoir emerged. It could easily
Page 59
ff

 attract people who are deeply

attached to health and nature.

(Do't wrap up this in a line rather

dedicate few paragraphs & tell a
story: So a cycle-path of ten
kilometer length was built. It brought
negligible inancial burden on the
Municipal Corporation.)

Aditya not only used the available

resources very economically but he
had also used his engineering skills
so well, that the cost was reduced
and the natural beauty was
maintained. Aditya was also very
happy and satis ied with this
achievement, that during his twenty-
ive years in the job, he had never got
an opportunity to use his technical
expertise so profusely.

For Dumna Nature Park, we got one

side road constructed on its
boundary fence. Some more minor
roads built inside the park. Due to
this only a network of paths was
created in the park and that network
also proved to be very useful for
jungle-safari. While building the paths
in Jungle(forest), we took special care
Page 60
f
f
f

not to create a new concrete forest

over there, so we mostly used Murum
(gravel). We used only local material
as much as possible. Hardly anyone
has been brought there from outside
the park.

The bushes of lantana grass, which

had spread (mushroomed) in a
random manner, were also cleared,
so that the forest could lourish with
its natural diversity. The same thing
happened, di erent species of lora
grew there and the already
developed vegetation came out in
more beautiful form. There, we also
got to know about the natural corpus
of plants and trees that provide
various types of Ayurvedic
medicines. Like Bel, Khair, Ankol,
Ghavra, Kadai, Neem, Kachanar,
Salai, Chironji, Dhak, Belia, Kumbhi,
Amaltas, Jamrasi, Takoli, Sissu,
Shisham, Tendu, Medsingi, Amla,
Pangara, Banyan, Peepal, Gular, Kakai
, Kaith, Papada, Kankra, Khmer, Kutz,
Torsion Fali, Chirol, Baranga, Gunja,
Kem, Mahua, Bija, Kosham, Bhilawa,
Rohan, Kullu, Jamun, Saja, Arjun,
Bahera, Bhirada, Teak, Tamarind,
Ghont etc. . 109 variety of trees have
Page 61

ff
f
f
been recorded in Dumna, keeping
the ecosystem alive.

We know that people have a desire

to have a variety of facilities and
attractive and picturesque places in
one place, so we developed the area
in front of the reservoir in such a way
that those who come to visit Dumna
Nature Park , they can also have a
view of that huge lake. There we
erected terraced loors and erected
pipe fencing, creating an elegant site
for an overview of the reservoir. From
there he took out lanes and
connected them with the cafeteria.
Aditya also developed an
administrative area and revamped
the old rest house.

I also wanted to create a 'Titli-

Bagh' (Butter ly Park) in Dumna
Nature Park, where more and more
species of butter lies live. Nature-
lover Shri Jagatsingh Flora helped us
a lot in this work. But I think that we
could not give it the desired shape as
we did not have the resources
required for it. The rare Anomalous
Nawab (Polyura agrarius) has been
recorded in Dumna Nature Reserve
Page 62
f
f
f

was previously recorded in Madhya

Pradesh in 1886 by Charles Swinhoe.
Of the 1,300 species of butter lies in
India, 127 species are protected
under Wildlife Protection act -
Schedule I, receiving the highest
conservation priority equivalent to
that of Tiger. 11 of these species have
been recorded in Dumna.

In 2016, Jabalpur Municipal

Corporation got the Smart City
Project. In the DPR that we had
prepared for this project, the plan for
development of Dumna Nature Park
was mentioned prominently. A public
information center building has been
built at the entrance of the park with
the resources of the Smart City
Project. It has been equipped with all
the necessary facilities in such a way
that it can be helpful for the
administration and operation of the
park.

As soon as the conservation work of

Dumna Nature Park reached its
perfection, the ecosystem and
habitat of the forest also started
improving. When grazing and
harvesting were banned, there was
Page 63

f
 abundant production of grass. The
availability of grass attracted
herbivorous wildlife. Especially the
cheetahs(deer). There was a
signi icant increase in the number of
cheetahs and in three-four years they
crossed 700. Now, Dumna has a
resident population of nearly 2,000
deer – Cheetal, Barking deer, Four-
horned antelope. The availability of
cheetals(Deer) attracted leopards
and they too did not hesitate to make
it their habitat. In this way, due to the
arrival of this predatory creature, the
links of the food chain created by
nature started intertwining. At
present the number of leopards in
the park has gone up to nine. Natural
science says that the carnivorous
organisms present in any ecosystem
make it complete and sustainable.

We organized a cycling competition

with the aim of engaging the
maximum number of people of
Jabalpur city, which was a great
success. Drumna Nature Park has
started attracting more and more
people who love bird-watching and
nature. Globally there are around
10,000 species of birds of which
Page 64
f

about 1300 species are found in India

(42 being endemic to the Indian
subcontinent). There are 296 bird
species recorded in Dumna Nature
Reserve of which 34.5% (102) species
are migrant during winters, summers
or passage. A large group of
stakeholders of the park has been
developed. All this gave us the
assurance that now Dumna Nature
Park will be protected in a
sustainable manner and will also
touch new horizons of development.

Page 65


CHAPTER 9:
GULOUATAL (LAKE):
AMALGAMATION OF HISTORY AND
ENVIRONMENT

(Put few older pictures of Water

body when work began then at least
one picture before work inished.)

The Gond kings have dug about 50

ponds in Jabalpur city. Due to the
pressure of increasing population
and lack of protection, these ponds
are disappearing. Now only about
twenty- ive ponds will be left, which
can be called ponds. But those that
are still left are also heavily
vulnerable to pollution and are
shrinking geographically. Gulauatal
(Lake) in Kachpura area is one such
pond. This pond is about a century
old and with the passage of time the
habitat in its waterlogged area kept
on increasing and the body of the
pond kept on shrinking. He also came
in the grip of pollution under the
pressure of the population.

In 2015, Dr. Swati Godbole was

elected as the new mayor of

Page 66
f

 Jabalpur. One of the tasks that she

quickly directed us to take up as
mayor was the construction of a
Hawkers' Corner to organize a
vegetable market near Kachhpura
(small locality) bridge.

So before starting the work, it was

right to inspect the site irst and I
reached that place along with the
Mayor. I was astonished to see that
there was a heap of garbage and ilth
and pigs had encroached upon it.
The smell was coming from there.
Toxic gases were being formed there,
which were injurious to public health.
It may have been one of the dirtiest
places in Jabalpur city.

On the other side of Kachpura

bridge is Gulua Tal (Lake). But was it a
pond? This lake was ruined. Now it
was ilthy, covered with water
hyacinths and ravaged by public
unrest. I told the mayor that if we
take it as a project, then we can make
the best example of conservation of
this pond. She also understood the
priority of conservation and
immediately gave his consent. This
happened in 2016.
Page 67
f

f
f
 The land was encroached upon by
the construction of some 150 huts on
two sides of the lake, and on the third
side it was an even more spectacular
sight, because the encroachment
was made up of fully concrete
buildings (pucca houses). As if the
houses were built on their own
private property and no one could
touch them for thousands of years.

So the practical reality was that

unless the encroachments were
removed, nothing could be done to
preserve the pond. What to do now?
On one side there was rejuvenation
of water body & on the other hand
removal of 150 Socio-economically
poor families. So, we decided unless
we can ind each of them a house
there is no point removing them from
there. Fortunately, we have built
su icient number of houses of EWS
under Housing Scheme ( Name the
exact scheme). We pursued them to
shift to better living condition with a
pukka houses. They agreed with
some initial hesitation. I felt that if we
can take the local public
representative in con idence, then
moving ahead will be much better
Page 68
ff
f
f

 and smoother. I spoke to the local

councilor Mr. Sanjay Rathore. He
made them aware of the need for
conservation of the pond. He joined
us with the belief that when Ved
Prakash is saying, it will be in larger
public interest and the whole project
will be delivered in the promised
time.

Rathor ji gave his full cooperation in

the work of shifting the huts from
there. One by one, we relocated all
the slum dwellers to the EWS
(Economically Weaker Section)
quarters of Brijmohan Nagar (place)
and Paraswara (place). As soon as
this work was completed, people
were convinced that the work of
pond/ lake conservation would
de initely be completed, it was not a
mere sham for uprooting them from
encroached land.

Now we started the work of

removing the silt from the pond.
After this the pond was deepened. It
was carried out by the corporation
engineers Shri RK Gupta and Shri
Goswami with full dedication. Both
these works were completed very
Page 69
f

economically, with the help of

machines available in the Municipal
Corporation.

In those days I had included it in my

routine, that every other day I would
visit the site of the pond in the
morning and after examining the
spot, the course of further action
should be decided then & there itself.
This is the most pragmatic way of
pushing the project one step at a
time to its logical conclusion.

When all this was done, the next

challenge before us was to remove
the encroachments from those pucca
houses( Concrete Buildings). But it
was no easy task. We had to work /
toil hard for that. A lot of political
stratagems went by, but eventually
they had to give way. We also erected
a wall of su icient height there, so
that in future also no encroachment
can be possible there. Plantation of
tall bamboos was also done by
making a garden of 300 meters
along the side of the 10 meter wall.

There was a government school in

one side, towards Gulua
Page 70
ff

Chowk( crossroad). The school was in

a dilapidated condition. There was a
pile of dirt around it. His premises
had been made a site of excreta.
There was also a small o ice of the
Municipal Corporation, adjacent to
the road. The work was not going to
proceed without the removal of both
the buildings, but in order to earn
trust, it was absolutely necessary to
build their alternate buildings before
they could be removed. So we built a
two-storey building for the school,
across the road, on the east side of
the pond. It is very ine, full of
modern facilities and beautifully
made. When it was made operational,
the children studying there and their
parents found it more satisfying and
rewarding.

This school can also be a good

case-study that if the reading space
is pleasant and its infrastructure is
good, then the number of children in
that school increases astonishingly/
dramatically. Not only this, it also
starts having a positive impact on the
exam result. This may be due to the
teachers & students inding a more
conducive environment for teaching
Page 71

f
f
ff
& learning and being more
psychologically active. Another
reason was awakening of con idence
of the parents towards the school.

Now this government school,

despite being in the category of
'government school', has been
adorned / endowed with the ability to
compete with many private schools.
Children of economically weaker
sections and laborers come here to
study, but the gift of a well-equipped
school building has given wings to
their dreams. They are ready to move
forward in spite of their
shortcomings. Now there is not only
a building for reading, but also
toilets, playground, and other
equipments. This is an example that
opens our eyes.

At the time when the project of

conservation of Gulaua (Lake) was
going on, Jabalpur city was selected
for the 'Smart City Plan' of the
Government of India and came in
seventh place in the country. Which
not only shocked State Government
of Madhya Pradesh but also the
Urban Minister of GOI, Shri Venkya
Page 72

Naidu. Venkya Naida said “A strange

entry at the rank 7 is Jabalpur”. Due
to this recognition, the morale of our
team had also reached the seventh
heaven. The work of pond/ lake
conservation got impetus with the
funds of Smart City Scheme.
Executive Engineer Shri RK Gupta
always remembers that it was a very
complicated task to divert the sewer
line of the houses built in the south
direction of the pond to the other
direction.

Basically the situation was that the

side where the sewer was to be
diverted was clayey and it was almost
impossible to make a permanent
structure of the hume pipe to divert
the sewer. Then we found a solution
for this, that the debris created
through demolition of
encroachments was brought to pile
up layer by layer. It was only after
several layers of rubble had been
deposited that its permanent base
was prepared. Then by laying sewer
line, it was taken towards Kachpura
drain.

Page 73

 When this work of was going on,

the rainy season was on its way. Our
battle continued with rain, mud and
clay, but our team did not hesitate in
ighting it. Ultimately we were
successful in achieving our goal.

Apart from this, the public drain

coming from the south side of the
pond was also diverted by making a
special structure, in such a way that
during the rainy days, the rain water
is stored in the pond/ lake itself. We
also installed an oxidation fountain
there to ensure that the pond water
gets oxidized (cleaned) regularly.

Despite this, as sewerage was being

poured into the pond for a long time,
even after the siltation of the pond,
the nutrient level of the water
remained very high. It can be
reduced by regularly removing the
aquatic plants growing there. Plants
will thrive, grow and, through their
internal structure, continue to
perform the natural function of
absorbing nutrients. This is also the
natural way of biological
puri ication / cleaning of ponds.

Page 74
f
f

 We had to build a concrete wall

only on the south side to establish a
structure like a ridge or a ram across
the border of the pond/ lake. In the
rest of the directions, we got the
pitching done in an economical way.
In this way, the structure of the
pitching is the most suitable for
water-recharge.

Gulua Tal is not only important from

the point of view of conservation, but
it is also an important work from the
point of view of site construction.

Although Garha has once been the

capital of the Gond dynasty, but in
course of time it became weak from
the commercial and administrative
point of view. The settlement of the
economically weaker sections
continued to increase in this area,
and due to various reasons, it did not
receive as much attention as it
needed. That is why there was a
complete absence of any delightful
and picturesque place for
entertainment. So when we took up
the task of conserving Gulua Tal and
revamping the dirt-ridden area, we
also took up the challenge of
Page 75

 transforming the dirtiest site in this

backward area into one of the most
beautiful.

On the other hand, much of the

restoration work of Bhanwartal
Garden had been completed and the
city of Jabalpur had started
appreciating its beauty. This was the
reason that the kind of horri ic
obstacles we had to face in the work
of Bhanwartal Garden, we did not
have to face the same obstacles in
the work of Gulua Tal (Lake) Project.
The success achieved in revamping
Bhanwartal Garden has inspired lot of
con idence & trust in our public
representatives towards Municipal
Corporation.

Conserving old trees on the banks

of the Gulaua Tal (Lake), new
complementary structures were built.
The surrounding footpath was built
with red stones and the use of cast
iron for the railing gave it a heritage
look. On the banks of the lake, the
excursions' seating area was made of
wood plank to make it look not only
natural but also comfortable. Two
open platforms were also built on the
Page 76
f

f
 banks of the pond, so that people
could gather there and organize
group activities.

Similarly, a small arti icial island was

also built in the middle of the pond
for the tourists, so that they can ind
a place to feel refreshed by reaching
a di erent place, away from the
everyday hassle. Silver oak trees were
planted there. They will reach their
full height in the next ten years, then
the place will become even more
beautiful. Not only this, a musical-
fountain has also been installed here
after receiving funds from the Smart
City scheme. When it is displayed at
night, crowds of spectators gather.
We have also made many public
convenience centers here, so that
they not only provide facilities, but
also do not let any challenge arise
there for cleanliness and health.

After all this, it was realized that a

cafeteria and parking space was
necessary here. So we started
looking for a place for him. We
caught sight of the place, which was
on the other side of the road, in the
north-east direction of the pond.
Page 77
ff

f
 There were encroachments and there
was a big pit, which was full of dirt.
We found this place suitable for our
work. The pit was illed with the soil
that came out during the deepening
of the pond/ lake.

The area is sloping and for a number

of reasons, it was challenging to re-
design an orderly drainage system.
We got about one and a half acres of
land from this considered useless
place, a small part of which belonged
to the Jabalpur Development
Authority. We contacted them and
requested to hand over the same to
the Municipal Corporation. They
agreed after the initial hesitation. We
couldn't stop thanking their
generosity.

We built a wonderful cafeteria here,

which is now being run by the well-
known 'Indian Co ee House'
institution. A large parking lot was
also built here, proving its usefulness
as a parking space for vehicles in that
area.

The 'Guloua Taal Project' is actually

the story of creating something
Page 78

ff

f
unique in the least amount of money.
A wonderful example of site building.
Amazing cooperation of public
representatives. Appropriate
protection of natural heritage.
Collective mobilization for
sustainable development matching
the needs and tastes of the
community.

Every day thousands of people come

there to satisfy their body, mind and
eyes ind pleasure. Especially such
people, who either do not have the
option of getting pleasure by
spending money.

This project not only ful ills the need

of entertainment, but also comes to
the fore as an example that such
projects create a reason to attract all
sections of the society to gather at
one place. It is capable of providing
opportunities for mutual
concentration and tolerance to the
society.

—————

(Put a Latest picture of waterbody .)

Page 79
f

f


CHAPTER 10
The poor class of Brijmohan Nagar
have deserted houses: Problem &
opportunity -Guththi reached the
cause…!

Change above tile to: (Guthi kiske

Ghar jayegi)

Connect this chapter with displaced

members from Golua Project, who
got their homes.

Brijmohan Nagar was a good

opportunity for us, to settle those
people who had been removed from
their encroachments to widen the
various parts of the city etc. There
was a chance to restore them. Make
it a perfect pair.

Tens of places in Jabalpur were

illegally encroached, viz.,
encroachments of Kanchghar rotten,
encroachments near fourth bridge,
encroachments of Jabalpur club at
Jaran Patti intersection,
encroachments on Alank (Check the

Page 80

name: Madanmahal to Kachpura

Bridge) road etc.-etc.

While we were navigating between

problems and possible solutions, a
movie dialogue like, 'I have wanted
you so passionately that the whole
universe is conspiring to make it
possible.'

So the same thing happened with

us. Destiny made its way.

In an old case related to removal of

road encroachments, Hon'ble High
Court summoned Collector,
Superintendent of Police and
Municipal Commissioner. The o icers
and their subordinates were shocked
that again same campaign has to be
carried out.

But I took it is an opportunity for the

Municipal Commissioner. I presented
to the High Court a list of encroached
places along with the deadline
needed to remove or clear them. The
court appreciated my promptness.

The Collector and the

Superintendent of Police warned me
Page 81

ff

- ‘Ved Prakash, you are unnecessarily

moving forward and you would end
up screwing yourself!’

The High Court in historical

judgment stated that 'the Court is not
granting any stay against the
campaigns being carried out against
encroachments by the Jabalpur
Municipal Corporation to widen the
roads.' (Include the exact references
of judgement)

So history was waiting to be

created. Opportunity was standing in
front and inviting, that do not miss it.

(Expand it: The campaign gained

momentum. Encroachments began
to be removed from many roads.
Roads were widened. The enormity of
the tra ic was made eye-catching.)

The opposition of the politicians

began to weaken and the desolation
of our Brijmohan city began to fade
away. People started settling in.

(Expand it: Of course some

experiments were also done with the
infrastructure and facilities. From the
Page 82
ff

expanse of community itself, we

employed ten people for garden
work, ten more people were attached
to the security forces there, some
educated people teaching in the
school. A couple of people got
involved in the work of hospital
attendants, some shops were opened
and self-employment was fostered.

A new city, new work and new

enthusiasm started spewing all over
the place. Channeling their
enthusiasm with the impulse of
independence, I gave the
responsibility of organizing the
Independence Day celebrations on
15th August to some people of the
community. Children were trained to
act and dance in drama. I went there
to hoist the lag. Children presented
praiseworthy performance on that
occasion. )

(Expand this: So 'Guththi' also

reached that Brijmohan Nagar.

While the cleanliness campaign was

going on, one of the many
experiments being done to motivate

Page 83

 people and make it a mass campaign

was inviting a celebrity to Jabalpur.

This celebrity was Guththi, a

ictional character from famous
television show: The Kapil Sharma
Show.

Campaign slogan was : 'Gutthi will

come, I do not know whose house
will it go?'

And then the whole city saw with

astonishment that 'Guththi' reached
Brijmohan Nagar to see the
cleanliness of Brijmohan Nagar.

The people of Brijmohan Nagar were

proud that 'Guththi' reached
Brijmohan Nagar.

Page 84
f

CHAPTER 11
Who was underestimating whom?

Waste management has always

been a challenge in our country. This
was the situation in Jabalpur also. The
general public, councilors and media,
everyone was focussing it. They
seemed troubled and had hopes for
improvement. Out of the 79 wards of
Jabalpur, the cleaning sta of the
Municipal Corporation used to sweep
almost half of the wards with a
broom. The work of cleaning in the
remaining half of the gardens was the
responsibility of the committees. The
name of the person who was
responsible for transporting the
waste was Guddu.

For the last eighteen years, the work

of transport was with him. He had a
friendly relations with local leaders
and o icials. If the same system
continues for long, then it starts
getting spoiled and weak. Laziness
and negligence of not carrying out
the work properly was breeding. If
you start getting money for no work
then money can put one to work. This
mindset is generally observed. Now if
Page 85
ff

ff

such a long-term system has to be

reformed, the only way is to change
the management.

At the same time the concept of

'Door to Door Garbage Collection'
came. Starting the work on this, the
Municipal Corporation started the
work of collection of garbage by
using two-three rickshaws. We got
good results from this. Encouraged
by the good results, we took this
initiative that some non-government
agency should take up the work of
collection of waste and the
corporation should supervise its
work. While we were busy thinking
and doing all this, the work of setting
up the waste-to-electricity plant,
through the private sector company
'Essel Infra', had started (Shall we
mention the name of current
company? ).

Later on, it proved to be a most

successful and the state-of-the-art
initiative to generate energy from
waste in the country. It was also
appreciated everywhere, but we will
discuss about it in detail, separately.
It was because of this initiative that
Page 86

 we were con ident that we can

present a concrete solution by
generating electricity through solid
waste management through door to
door waste collection. (Do't put the
cart before the horse. The success of
any project shall be discussed at the
end of the chapter after we have
su iciently appreciated the e orts to
circumvent the roadblocks in an
interesting way.)

Then we made a tender document

for selection of suitable agency for
door to door garbage collection work
and submitted it to the Mayor-in-
Council for approval. The Mayor-in-
Council objected to it and returned it
twice. During this, in a meeting
related to the waste management
system of the Health Department,
Guddu said, 'Commissioner sir, you
are underestimating me. For 18 19
years, the same system is running,
which we are running. During this
many commissioners came and went.
The mayor smiled at this statement.’

Guddu's statement and the

mysterious smile of the Mayor illed
my consciousness with a ruckus &
Page 87
ff
f

ff
f
-

 simultaneously presented a
challenge as well. So I decided that
now door to door garbage collection
work has to be completed in record
time. Incidentally, at the same time,
the central government's overall
cleanliness campaign was also
unveiled, under which the waste
management work was to be done by
door to door collection. This
campaign gave us strength. We also
put full emphasis for its
implementation.

On the other hand, the construction

of Waste to Energy plant had almost
progressed to the stage of making
electricity from waste(On the verge
of completion). The capacity of that
plant was to treat 600 tonnes of
waste per day, but till then it was
getting only 300 tonnes of waste per
day. That is, half of its capacity. The
agency had invested around Rs 170
crore in setting up that plant, while
its full potential was not being
utilized. Then the company found an
alternative solution in form of lifting
up the piled up garbage on three
land ill sites of municipal corporation,
which municipal corporation happily
Page 88
f

 agreed. Due to this the Waste to

Energy Plant got garbage and the
land ill sites of the corporation which
were earlier rendered useless due to
pilled up garbage, was now getting
emptied & cleaned. When that pile of
garbage also could not ill the
stomach of Waste to Energy Plant,
the garbage was picked up from the
neighboring city of Katni. But the real
purpose was not to bring garbage
from anywhere and generate
electricity. The objective was that
door to door garbage collection
should be done from the houses of
Jabalpur city and from that waste the
green energy should be produced.

Tenders were held two-three times

due to various constraints. (Mention
them in more detail.) The open
tender inally went in favor of Essel
Infra, which was already engaged in
green energy generation. They must
have thought that since they are
engaged in the production of green
energy and it is completely
dependent on the collection and
supply of waste, then it would be
better if that work also remained with
them. Otherwise, the other agency
Page 89
f
f
f

 can extort them anytime. Therefore,

that organization had bid the tender
at very competitive rates. Door to
door garbage collection
responsibility has been allocated to
Essell Infra.

Please prove the competitiveness of

tender price & how it was in the
interest of Jabalpur. How the same
company purchased the waste from
Jabalpur whereas in other cities
they are getting paid to dispose the
same waste. Also talk about the
current situation of project. Why the
project su ered in future, discuss
it?

With the arrival of another agency for

door to door garbage collection,
Guddu's managerial skills had lost the
charm that he used to launt.

On the test of administration, the

most di icult week in ive years of my
tenure.

I had gone to my native village to

meet my parents for four days. I got
the information that the committees
involved in the work of waste
Page 90

ff
ff

f
f

management have gone on strike.

The garbage collection of Jabalpur
city has been brought to halt.

Every day Jabalpur used to generate

400 tons of garbage in the city. It
was only natural to be upset. The
same thing happened. By the time I
would return from the village and
take control of the work, three or four
days had elapsed.

As soon as I reached my o ice,

Mayor was eagerly waiting for me. He
reprimanded me by saying- 'Your
waste management has failed. He
enlisted 10 more problems to be
solved immediately and instructed
that the people of Jabalpur will not
tolerate it.'

I replied, keeping cool & with all due

respect that- 'Okay, I will attend to it. '

After all, when we tried to ind out

what was the matter, another
information was received that the
own employees of the Municipal
Corporation, who are associated with
the Ajax organization, have also
stopped work. It was also learned
Page 91

ff
f

that some private contractor involved

in the work of transport was also in
collusion with them. Got some more
information. Upon seeing everyone
together, it didn't take me long to
realize that there was a high level of
stratagem behind this. (The intention
was to get me transferred.)

It was the fourth day of the strike. I

spoke to new committees and new
people, avoiding the striking
committees. I assigned the work
within an hour to new committee on
the basis of emergency situations,
with the assurance that their
payment would be credited on time. I
neither adopted the tender process
nor did I send any proposal for the
permission of the Mayor-in-Council.

Then called the transport

contractor, who was involved in that
nexus. Briefed him politely and also
constituted a committee to
investigate his old works. We also
wrote a letter to the Deputy Registrar
of the Co-operative Societies to audit
his previous work.
Page 92

 Then I informed the provincial

o icer of Ajax Mr. JN Kansautia, with
whom I had worked in the past, about
the vicious cycle going on in the
Jabalpur Municipal Corporation and
the Ajax organization of the
Municipal Corporation who became
an ally in it. He was well aware of me
and my character. He spoke to the
o ice bearers of Ajax and exhorted
them not to be misled. The people of
Ajax came to me and promised to
cooperate.

I constantly interacted with the

representatives of the Engineering
Students Association, the
organization that coordinated the
strike and won their trust. After all,
the strike ended on the ifth day. The
town’s people got free from the
hellish conditions littered waste.

Had I not dealt with this obstacle so

e iciently, I would have been
conveniently thrown out of Jabalpur
Municipal Corporation.

—————

Page 93
ff
ff
ff

CHAPTER 12
The city will remember,
ok…..action….result….
commissioner, Ved Prakash

Five years ago a young o icer came

to Jabalpur. The complexion is fair-
skinned, tall in height, slender in the
saddle. Handsome in appearance.
This person will be the commissioner
of Jabalpur Municipal Corporation.
He has come on transfer from
Gwalior. The encroachment
campaign was vigorously launched in
Gwalior. For this reason, the news of
a dispute with the then female mayor
and local leaders also went back and
forth. Disputes between o icials and
public representatives are
considered natural.

On 4 May 2013, Ved Prakash took

over as the Commissioner Municipal
Corporation, Jabalpur. His style of
working was quick, that is, he
believed in OK, action and result. His
tuning with the then Mayor Prabhat
Sahu went well for several months.
City development gained
momentum. Together, both of them
would create a new concept of
Page 94

ff
ff

 development and implement it. As

often happens between the o icer
and the public representative, the
same thing happened here too. There
was a di erence of opinion between
the two regarding the lease matters,
which was resolved only after the
end of the term of the mayor. Despite
the di erence of opinion, the
Commissioner continued to carry out
the works as told by Mr. Sahu. After
this Dr. Swati Godbole got elected as
mayor. Commissioner Ved Prakash's
co-ordination with them continues till
now. In 4 years, the pair of Dr. Swati
and Ved Prakash gave a new impetus
to the development of the city. He
has made a record by staying on the
post of Commissioner for ive years.
After getting the IAS Award, now he
is going to become Collector
Chhindwara.

The ive-year tenure of Ved Prakash

was full of challenges. He was always
the target of the opposition, the
displeasure of the ruling party also
had to be faced many a times. Many
public representatives of the city
kept calling him arrogant. A little bit
of arrogance will come in that o icer
Page 95
f
ff
ff

f
ff
ff
who does the work of Municipal
Corporation from 7 am to 10 pm. Not
only did he work, he also showed
positive outcomes. In these ive
years, many development works have
been done in Jabalpur city. The
ruined Bhanwartal Garden was
renovated and given the shape of a
modern garden, cultural street and
skating ield were built. An action
plan for open theater was made in
the periphery of Bhanwartal itself.
The Dumna Nature Park was not only
made attractive and convenient but
also made 12 km long cycle track
operational. Left turns were made at
the chaotic crossroads of the city.
Launched a campaign to create
public awareness about cleanliness.
Waste based power plant was
established. Along with the road
construction between Katanga Tiraha
(a crossroad) to Gwarighat, cycle and
pedestrian paths were made. In
Bahorabagh-Mecca Nagar’s (locality)
encroachments were removed & a
wide road was constructed. The
biggest work that he did is the
housing system of the poor. During
the tenure of Ved Prakash, 8
thousand EWS houses were built
Page 96
f
f
under di erent schemes and 22
thousand are under construction.
Several minor parks were upgraded.
He also got many more work done
under the Smart City Project. It is also
not fair to say that everything
happened because of him, but
whatever development work has
been done, it is because of his
leadership ability and hard work of
his great team.

Ved Prakash may not have any

complaint from his ive-year tenure,
but some people's representatives of
this city will complain that they did
not listen to him, used to be arbitrary.
Citizens will regret that storm water,
Sewer-line projects are still
incomplete. Door to door garbage
system could not be strengthened.
The corporation could not develop
the work culture of its style among
the o icers and employees.

Overall, it can be said that the tenure

of Ved Prakash, who was posted in
Jabalpur for the longest time on the
post of Commissioner, was bene icial
Page 97
ff
ff

f
for the city. His tenure will be
remembered. He has a better image
among the general public. He had to
be transferred under the
administrative system, so it
happened. Ved Prakash’s, irst
posting in Chhindwara as a collector,
it should be expected that he will
write a new story there too.

Page 98
f