MP High Court issued notices to state government and officials on petition by Nagar Sudhar Samiti, Gandhi Nagar, representing Sindhi refugee families in Bairagarh, Bhopal. Bench headed by Justice Maninder Pal Singh sought response from respondents.

100 plots allotted to Sindhi refugee families at One Tree Hills, Bairagarh between 1984-1988. Collector Bhopal executed registered sale deeds in favour of families in October 1988.

Petition alleges: 52 of 100 plots denied possession to families; families later asked to pay Rs 2.54 crore compounding fee for lease renewal; 52 plots and community hall land under encroachment.

PWD minister Rakesh Singh inspected the Bairagarh elevated bridge and found slow construction progress and inadequate lighting. He ordered contractual penalties against the construction agency for negligence and delay. Completion deadline set for March 2027. Ordered agency to resolve all shortcomings within three days. Directed that service road serve as main route during construction with priority security measures, particularly near civil hospital for ambulances and patients. Street lights to be repaired and activated. Barriers restricted to active work sites only. Construction waste to be removed immediately. Proper rainwater harvesting required on bridge. Problems faced by local residents and businessmen to be addressed as priority.

Bhopal Development Plan 2047 proposes new rules for road widths, land use and building development, but residents and experts say parking, daily amenities and civic infrastructure remain concerns in Arera Colony as redevelopment expands.

Resident Purnendu Shukla said government-leased quarters allotted to MPEB employees for residential use are operating as offices, sometimes with no employee or engineer living there. Large-vehicle parking has damaged sewage lines and residents’ gates. Residents fear broad mixed-land-use provisions could allow non-residential use despite residential lease terms.

The draft identifies multi-level parking facilities at MP Nagar Zone-1, Bairagarh, New Market, Ibrahimpura and Moti Masjid, plus off-street and on-street parking locations, but provides no separate parking inventory for Arera Colony. It mentions “12% open area, half for parking.”

MANIT Department of Architecture and Planning head Dr Krishna Kumar Dhote called for assessing water, drainage, electricity and other service capacity before further development. The plan does not address government-leased properties; retrospective land-use regularisation would not convert leases to freehold without Supreme Court directions.

Bhopal’s electric-bus fleet is set to expand from 10 to 45 vehicles from Monday, about one-and-a-half months after passenger operations began. Average daily ridership is nearing 10,000, Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL) said. The expansion will extend service to Mandideep through the B-38 route, running 33.6 km from Bairagarh E-Bus Depot via Board Office Square Metro Station. Operating costs are about ₹56 per km. Metro operations remain limited, with low ridership.

Ten electric buses made their first passenger run on Thursday, July 30, from Bairagarh to MP Nagar, passing the Bhopal Collectorate and heading towards the Board Office. Around 700 passengers rode the buses by afternoon, according to Bhopal City Link Limited (BCLL), the city’s bus operator. The service is in dry-run mode; buses were tested without passengers the previous week. Ten routes have been finalised for the full launch, expected next month with a fleet of 30–40 buses.