Concerning officer to be punished for allowing encroachments and according building permission in lake’s catchment area

madhyprdesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that concerning officer will be held responsible for encroachments in the catchment area of the Upper Lake of Bhopal. Officer granting building permission in this area will also be punished. Shri Chouhan gave directives to chalk out practical long-term and short-term action plans for conservation, development and beautification of the Upper Lake and other lakes in the city and nearby areas.Shri Chouhan was reviewing works being carried out for lakes’ conservation and development here today. Urban Administration Minister Babulal Gaur, Mayor Krishna Gaur and Chief Secretary R. Parasuram were also present on the occasion. At the meeting, the Chief Minister also directed to take a concrete initiative to ensure conservation of all the urban and rural area reservoirs in entire state.Referring to aerial survey made by him recently, Shri Chouhan said that flow of water in Kolans and Uljhawan rivers has reduced. He said that a short-term action plan should be chalked out and implemented soon for deepening of these rivers, motivating farmers in the area to grow organic crops, treatment of sewer etc. Work of deepening of rivers should be completed before the next monsoon. Following this, a long-term action plan should be chalked out for beautification of the lake as per master plan, construction of viewpoints, development of new tourist attractions, construction of approach roads upto must-see places etc. the Chief Minister also directed to chalk out a detailed action plan for conservation and development of lakes in entire state.Urban Administration Minister Babulal Gaur put forth suggestions about stopping sewer water from falling in the lake and constant cleaning.Bhopal Divisional Commissioner Praveen Garg informed that as a result of adequate rainfall, Bhojtal of Bhopal has filled upto the brim. Minarets have been installed at the places till where water has filled up this year. Videography has also been carried out.At the meeting, Principal Secretary Urban Administration S.P.S. Parihar gave a presentation about efforts being made to conserve and develop Bhopal’s lakes. It was informed that there are 18 lakes including the Upper and Lower Lakes in and around Bhopal. Of these, 13 lakes are in the Municipal Corporation limits. These lakes’ area (except Kaliyasot and Ghora Pachhad dams) is about 8,994 hectares. The Upper Lake has the maximum area of 3100 hectares followed by Kolar (2850 hectare) and Halali (1625 hectare). The department has entrusted the work of survey of lakes and chalking out their master plans to SEPT University of Ahmedabad.SEPT University City Planner Abhijit Sabu informed the meeting that he has started this work since June this year. He informed that survey of the Upper Lake will be carried out as per about 14 thousand points following which an action plan for the lake’s beautification will be chalked out. Upper Lake’s catchment area is 361 square kilometers, where 88 villages are situated. Its 66 percent area is in Bhopal and 33 percent of Sehore district. The survey will include present depth of the lake, tourist places, use of surrounding lands, water quality, formation of silt, traffic situation etc. At the meeting, tourist facilites, constructin of guest house and development of recreational faicltiies at nearby lakes incouding Shahpura Lake, the Lower Lake, Kolar, Kerwa, Halali etc. were also discussed.Bhopal Municipal Corporation Chairman Kailash Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary Aruna Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary Madan Mohan Upadhyay, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Manoj Shrivastava, Principal Secretaries Iqbal Singh Bains, raj Kishore Swai and Radhey Shyam Julaniya were also present on the occasion.