Page 1 of 5

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

I. Volume 01 Issue 03

April 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 575

Rejuvenation of the Tile Jamal Pure Runnel, Bhopal

Parth Bansal ; Swarnali Dihingia

Bachelors in Planning, Department of Planning School of Planning and Architecture Bhopal , Madhya Pradesh

parth@blem.in ; swarnali@dihingia.in

Abstract—

Almost 1 billion people, or 32 per cent of the world’s

urban population, live in slums and India being one

of the fastest developing countries with migration in

many of the metropolitan cities, slums are

considered to be the major issue within many urban

areas; particularly problems related to

transportation, population, health and safety.

Bhopal, the capital of state of Madhya Pradesh has

wide spread poverty due to its tragic past of gas

tragedy. This poverty has manifested into

widespread slum proliferation which has

concentrated into disadvantages land parcels

generally owned by governmental bodies.

Tila Jamal Pura nalah, flowing through heart of

Bhopal, has become the centre of informal activities,

giving rise to slum colonies due to little attention

from government. The flow of untreated sewage and

septic tank overflow from nearby colonies due to

absence of proper sewage system has made these

natural drainage paths hub to filth and disease

centers.

Along with the above mention points, due to flood

prone nature of these drainage lines, the Town and

Country Planning Organization, M.P., has mandated

that a buffer of 15 Meter along the drainage line

should be maintained.

The paper examines the case of slums and colonies

located along the Tila Jamal Pura Nala located in

the ward 11 and 12 of Bhopal. It calculates the

approximate amount of household living in the 15 M

buffer zones and suggests how the development of

this buffer zone into urban green space can not only

provide relief to the slum dwellers, but also provide

breathing and recreational space to the resident of

cities where local parks are few and far in between.

Index Terms— slums, runnel (key words)

I. INTRODUCTION

Almost 1 billion people of the world’s urban

population lives in slum, the majority of them in

the developing world and the locus of poverty are

moving to the cities (UN Habitat, 2003).

India being one of the fastest developing countries

with huge rural to urban migration, slums are

considered to be the major issue within many urban

areas; particularly in terms of problems

related to transportation, population, health and

safety.

Bhopal, Capital of state of Madhya Pradesh, India is

home to 1.2 Million people. The city has experience

rapid growth and received special attention from

state government for being home of large

government employees. Despite these factors, slum

proliferation continues to be a major problem, with

almost 30% of population living in miserable

condition.

Page 2 of 5

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

I. Volume 01 Issue 03

April 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 576

Jain et al., (2011) argues that the biological

functions of human beings demands that he should

breathe fresh air, enjoy leisure and take part in

recreation but due to rapid urbanization and the

mounting pressure on land, colonies and slums have

been developed around runnels which faces risk due

to the floods occurring as well as health problems

due to the fact that the runnel usually acts as the

drainage system.

II. OBJECTIVE

The objective of this paper is to introduce the area

of Tila Jamal Pura Runnel flowing through ward 11,

Bhopal, M.P. and develop concept proposal for the

stretch for it to act as a recreational strip which can

solve problem arising out of unhygienic conditions

created by uncontrolled flow of sewage. All the

analysis is based on primary survey and statistical

data collected from offices of Rajiv Awas Yojana

and Census. The proposals are based on authors’

perception of the area.

III. INTRODUCTION TO THE AREA

The paper proposes the development of stretch of

Tila Jamal Pura runnel starting from the Lendhia

talab in the adjacent ward. The access to this

runnel is provided by Regiment road on the right

and Berasia road on the left. Besides, there are

certain very narrow pathways which provide

access to houses along runnel. These pathways

are very narrow, generally of width less than 3

Meter.

The total runnel area considered for development

is 3.879 hectares and the site is surrounded by

four slums- Krishna colony (3.74 Hectares), Tila

Jamal Pura Gaon (3.70 Hectares), Basod Basti

(3.08 Hectares) and Shobharam Ki Bawdi (1.09

Hectares). (Fig. 1)

The tenure status of the slums are different from

each other , Basod Basti and Krishna Colony having

Patta- a legal document issued by the state

government in the name of the actual owner of a

particular plot of land. (Krishnan,2013) and

Certified occupancy rights- a document issued by

a local government agency or building

department certifying a building's compliance

indicating it to be in a condition suitable for

occupancy (Lehman and Phelps, 2005) whereas Tila

Jamal Pura Gaon and Shobharam ki Bawdi

residents possessing no documents of any kind.

Figure 1: Slum Demarcation

Page 3 of 5

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

I. Volume 01 Issue 03

April 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 577

The contour along the runnel is very steep

indicating that human habitation is at a high risk

along its length, but squatter settlement persists

some in a very dangerous location due to poor land

management practiced by the local government.

The existing cross section of the runnel is shown

below. In the Section X-X’, it is seen that the runnel

is wide and shallow and houses are located even at

the slope. In the Section Y-Y’, the slope is steep

and so the runnel is narrow and deep. The sections

are tentative in nature.(Fig 2.)

DESIGN PROPOSALS

IV. The

Town and

Country

Planning Organisation, Madhya Pradesh has

mandated that a 15 Metre buffer zone to be kept

along the runnel for the safety of the people and

their health. If the 15 meter buffer zone is acquired

then it can be used to develop the site as a breathing

space for the residents by providing environmental

friendly landscape.But by doing so the households

residing in the 15 meter buffer zone needs to be

relocated which by Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY) was

found to be 313 households. (Fig 3., Tab 1.)

The space freed by relocating these households

can be used as an active recreation zone along

with the informal commercial spaces such as those

for vendor activity. But for doing so, the foul smell

of the runnel is to be eliminated which in turn can

be done by the introduction of reed beds-Phragmites

Australis (Vipat,et all. 2008). The reed beds which

are also addressed as Constructed Wetlands will also

help in purifying the water of the runnel.

The Use of reeds beds is very beneficial as:

 It is a cost-saving, effective, low- maintenance approach to dewatering sludge

and reducing bio-solids.

Figure 2: Contour Map and the existing Cross section

SECTION Y-Y’

SECTION X-X’

Figure 3: 15 m buffer zone

Table 1: Households to be Relocated