The National Green Tribunal‘s Central Zone Bench in Bhopal has ordered state officials to remove illegal construction from the 50-metre buffer around the Bhoj Wetland, Kaliasot Dam and Kerwa Dam, and made the district’s top revenue officers personally accountable for enforcing it.
The order, passed July 29 by Judicial Member Justice Sheo Kumar Singh and Expert Member Dr. Prashant Gargava, came during a joint hearing of four linked cases, including one filed by applicant Rashid Noor Khan against the Bhopal Collector.
What the survey found
A tehsildar’s survey of seven villages around the wetland — Prempura, Dharampuri, Sevaniya Gond, Gaura, Bishankhedi, Beelkheda and Kotra Sultanabad — found 117 encroachments inside the 50-metre Full Tank Level buffer zone. Officials have removed 45 of them. Seventy-two remain, split between government and private land.
In Village Prempura alone, authorities identified 35 encroachments on a single plot of revenue land that includes part of a mosque. Twenty-three have been cleared, reclaiming roughly one acre. The Sub-Divisional Officer has asked the Bhopal Municipal Corporation to fence the reclaimed land to stop it from being encroached again.
Twelve residential structures in Prempura are still standing. State counsel Prashant M. Harne told the tribunal these are occupied homes inside the village’s populated core, and their removal is on hold until residents get alternative housing under the government’s Housing for All scheme.
A case for stronger enforcement
Advocate Harshwardhan Tiwari, representing Khan, told the tribunal that new encroachments keep appearing even as officials clear old ones, undermining compliance with the tribunal’s earlier orders.
Dr. Subhash C. Pandey, an applicant appearing in person, pressed the tribunal on three unresolved points: the scientific demarcation of Kaliasot Dam, Kerwa Dam and Bhopal Lake; a ban on chemical fertiliser and pesticide use near the wetland, which he said threatens the drinking water supplied to Bhopal residents; and protection of a proposed 150-hectare botanical garden that has yet to be measured or marked out.
The Sub-Divisional Magistrate for T.T. Nagar, appearing by video link, said police shortages and interim orders from higher courts have slowed removals in some areas. He also told the tribunal that police have filed an FIR against people carrying out illegal mud rallies and vehicle racing inside the wetland zone, and that officials now patrol the area to stop it recurring.
The tribunal’s directions
The tribunal ordered the SDM and tehsildar to draw up a full list of construction that violates the Bhoj Wetland Rules and the city’s master plan, take action against it, and file a compliance report backed by an affidavit.
It also directed the Bhopal Collector to add a police officer, nominated by the SSP or police commissioner, to the enforcement committee — so that officers are available whenever a demolition needs force behind it.
Officials must file their next compliance report within three weeks. The tribunal has listed the case for further hearing on August 31, 2026.
Support Us To Sustain Independent Environmental Journalism In India.
More Ground Reports
He Was Married as a Child, Now Manish Dangi Helps Stop It for Others
Despite The Ban, How Gutkha Became MP’s Most Common Household Habit
