Bhopal's Smart City Ambitions Still Unrealised After Eight Years

During this period, encroachments in TT Nagar have surged as government housing land that was previously cleared has transformed into slums. The smart city project, which promised over 20,000 LED lights throughout the city, has yet to reach this area. For two years, a nearly one-kilometre-long street near a tourism development property has had street poles but no lighting. BSCDCL has shifted responsibility to the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) regarding this issue. BSCDCL released a green and blue master plan after facing opposition to smart city development in Shivaji Nagar. The claim was that 50 per cent of the ABD area would be green. However, hundreds of trees, some towering between 70 to 100 metres, were felled in the core development area, leaving plots vacant. While BSCDCL maintains compliance with green norms, city residents lament the loss of green cover in the name of development. So far, BSCDCL has leveraged approximately Rs 3 billion from plot sales in the ABD area, attracting the interest of developers, builders, investors, and real estate agencies. However, post-pandemic, plot sales have not been without controversy. Meanwhile, more visible projects such as multi-level parking, garbage transfer stations, traffic management, and streetlights have been delegated to other agencies by BSCDCL. The smart city project, which initially aimed for completion within two years, was inaugurated ahead of the 2018 state elections. With another state election on the horizon, empty skyscrapers dominate the skyline, failing to realise the envisioned smart development.