Faced with growing opposition from citizens, the Madhya Pradesh government Monday scrapped its controversial "re-densification" in Bhopal. The Mohan Yadav government’s decision came after protests against the project, which critics claim would have meant cutting down over 27,000 trees. In a message on X, MP’s Urban Administration and Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya announced that the government had rejected the proposal floated under the New Bhopal "re-densification" plan, under which the Madhya Pradesh Housing Board had intended to clear the city's Shivaji Nagar of existing constructions to make way for “planned development”. "Keeping in view environmental protection and trees present in the area of the New Bhopal Re-densification Plan, the presented proposal was rejected after thorough consideration and instructions were given to examine other alternative locations," Vijayvargiya said in the post in Hindi. "Discussions should also be held with citizens and public representatives at the initial level for the new proposal." नये भोपाल के पुनर्घनत्वीकरण योजना के पर्यावरण संरक्षण एवं क्षेत्र में विद्यमान वृक्षों को देखते हुए प्रस्तुत प्रस्ताव को संपूर्ण विचारोपरांत अस्वीकृत कर अन्य वैकल्पिक स्थानों के परीक्षण के निर्देश दिये गये है।नवीन प्रस्ताव हेतु प्रारंभिक स्तर पर भी नागरिकों एवं जनप्रतिनिधियों…— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) June 17, 2024 Significantly, this rollback comes as the BJP, which won all 29 parliamentary seats in the state, eyes the reserved tribal seat of Amarwara, which its candidate Kamlesh Shah — a former Congress leader — hopes to secure for the third time in the July 10 by-polls. Shah, who was considered a close aide of former CM Kamal Nath and a three-time Amarwara MLA, had won the seat in the 2023 assembly polls but switched over to the BJP within months. This is the first time the BJP government under Yadav had to reverse a decision in the face of a popular protest. Citizens’ protest Although the state government never spelled out the details of its “re-densification plan”, citizen activists and environmentalists feared it could mean mass felling of trees with the aim of making space for VVIP bungalows for MLAs and bureaucrats. This anxiety was further fuelled by fuzzy details about the project. Over the last 10 days, citizens, including students, green activists and even political rivals — rallied against the project. Among these protesters was BJP’s Bhopal Dakshin-Pashchim MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani, On its part, the state government had denied having any immediate plans to cut down trees, saying that it wasn’t a proposal but "a concept floated by the Housing Board before the Urban Development Minister" Environmentalist Subhash C. Pandey, who spearheaded the protests, called the government rollback “a major win” for the movement. “The government was taken aback by the sheer number of people who turned up. We had politicians from parties, including several from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), teachers, IPS officers, lawyers and senior citizens turn up for the movement in personal capacity," Pandey told The Indian Express.
