Bhopal's Water Lifeline: Upper Lake to Fuel ₹372 Cr. Electronics Hub

Bhopal will supply 2 million litres of water per day (MLD) from the Upper Lake to support new industrial units in Bandikhedi village, Berasia tehsil, as part of the upcoming Electronics Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) project.

The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to lay a 38-km pipeline from Sanjiv Nagar to Bandikhedi, connecting it to the Manuabhan Tekri Filter Plant near Lalghati, which has a 50 MLD capacity. The ₹371.95-crore EMC project, spread across 210 acres, is being developed by the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation (MPSEDC) under the Government of India’s EMC 2.0 scheme.

Authorities have assured that a 10 MLD capacity enhancement under AMRUT 2.0 will ensure uninterrupted water supply. However, environmental experts have cautioned that additional extraction could strain the Upper Lake, which currently supplies 86.4 MLD—close to its 99 MLD limit—and serves nearly six lakh residents. They have called for sustainable water management practices to protect the lake’s ecosystem and prevent potential drought-like conditions in the future.

News by Rahul Yelligetti.