Pushing Development Agenda, Government Starts Work On Proposed Bhopal Metropolitan Region

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The government has set the ball rolling for the development and investment plan of Bhopal Metropolitan Region. In this direction, Bhopal Commissioner Sanjeev Singh convened a meeting on Wednesday where he directed officers to prepare a plan by considering the future needs. 

Among those at the meeting were Bhopal Development Authority (BDA) CEO Shyambeer Singh, all Collectors of Bhopal division, Smart City CEO Anju Arun Kumar, and Joint Commissioner (Development) Vinod Yadav. BDA CEO Singh gave a presentation of the proposed project. 

Meanwhile, Commissioner Singh directed all Collectors of the Bhopal division to appoint a nodal officer for the plan while coordinating with the BDA and other associated agencies.

Citing the need for collating necessary data and its analysis, Singh asked all departments to ensure that their proposed projects and activities were included in the Regional Development Plan so that a comprehensive roadmap could be prepared.

The development and investment plan of Bhopal Metropolitan region will promote better managed urbanisation and will also give a new direction to employment, investment, tourism, and infrastructure.

To begin with, the state government is working on developing Bhopal and Indore Metropolitan Regions to enhance its economic infrastructure.

5k sqft area, 55km radius: Bhopal Metropolitan Region

An officer who attended the meeting told the Free Press on the condition of anonymity that the approximate area of Bhopal Metropolitan Region is around 9,000 square kilometres and its radius is estimated to be around 55 km.

A socio-economic survey is proposed in the planto check the migration of people from far flung areas to Bhopal. The idea would be to not overwhelm Bhopal with migratory people in search of jobs and so, employment opportunities will be planned outside Bhopal.

Planning will be done to bring industries under the metropolitan concept. It will also include a tourist circuit to connect famous tourist places. As of now,suggestions are being taken from all the departments under the metropolitan plan. Shortly, a consultant will be appointed to collate all the data, the officer said.