Having earned notoriety as the venue of the world's worst industrial disaster, the environmental challenge in Bhopal today is less about large-scale industrial pollution and more about everyday practices.
The city’s primary polluters aren’t factories, but traffic-choked roads, smoke-belching dhabas, and the unchecked burning of solid fuels. At the same time, shrinking lakes, falling groundwater levels, and an unmistakable shift in weather patterns—most recently this blistering April—signal that the city’s ecological resilience is under serious threat.
Long before the city became an urban sprawl, it was shaped by tribal societies that lived in harmony with the land. These communities practised sustainable farming, used forest produce responsibly, and built homes and tools from natural, biodegradable materials. Their ecological footprint was minimal—far removed from the consumerist, extractive model that defines the city today. The forthcoming Earth Day, on April 22, is an apt moment to reflect on their climate wisdom and the ways it can contour present responses.
Today, Bhopal’s environmental stress points are numerous. Single-use plastics choke drains and clog neighbourhoods, while informal waste workers—who form the backbone of the recycling economy—remain unsupported and exposed. Waste segregation is poor, and the city still relies heavily on landfills and open dumping.
Lakes—once sacred and self-sustaining—are under pressure from urban expansion and untreated waste. Rainwater harvesting, once a routine practice in traditional architecture, is now more the exception than the norm. Riverbed mining for sand and gravel continues to destabilise aquatic ecosystems, disrupt biodiversity, and prevent proper groundwater recharge, deepening the city’s struggle for water every summer.
Meanwhile, the tree cover that once cooled the city has steadily thinned. Bhopal is showing signs of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, with built-up areas heating faster and retaining more heat. The loss of green buffers has also reduced the presence of native species in and around the city’s lakes and hillocks.
The push for renewable energy—the central theme of Earth Day this year—is growing, but large parts of the city still depend on solid fuels, paraffin, and firewood, particularly in informal settlements. Cultural practices such as agricultural stubble burning and domestic waste combustion remain socially acceptable despite their harmful effects on air quality.
Traffic-related emissions add another layer. Old diesel engines—refurbished and poorly regulated—continue to pollute with impunity. The city is still awaiting the launch of Metro Rail services, which have long been billed as the response to the growing concentration of traffic-induced aerosols in the air we breathe.
While climate response has picked up in recent years—through Smart City projects, awareness drives, and government schemes—community engagement continues to remain weak. Schools and colleges have begun introducing climate education, and young voices are emerging, but wider civic participation is still limited. Local governance suffers from fragmented jurisdiction, slow enforcement, and poor integration of climate goals into urban planning.
What’s missing is a shift from policy to people. Climate-centric training, neighbourhood-level initiatives, and a revival of indigenous practices can bridge the gap. Penal measures must be coupled with real incentives for greener living.
As Earth Day 2025 is observed, Bhopal stands at a decisive threshold. The past holds lessons. The present demands resolve. And the future may well depend on one visionary administrator with the will to plan with clarity, and act with courage, to bring about the change the city so desperately needs.
