The politics of green and blue space availability: Case of Bhopal

Abstract

The study elaborates Bhopal's urbanity to accessible Green and Blue spaces in the city that has remained latent in equitable spatial distribution. Routinized silting and episodic encroachment into the major lakes of the city maligns the guidelines under the rubric of National Green Tribunal (NGT). In 2014, NGT set a buffer mark of 300m for upper lake which was brought down to 50m in 2018. Similarly for Kaliasote reservoir, the buffer set was 200m, now it is 33m. In the past 20 years, the green cover in the city has shrunk from 66 percent to just 22 percent and is expected to reduce further to a frightening 4.1 percent by 2030. The study conveys illustrative analysis and interpretations have led to the underlining of facts and the need of the revision and recommendation in existent, projected and the proposed spatial plans.