Abstract:
The lake systems in an urban area are a boon to that area. A lake supplies a lot its
surroundings and end up being an eminent contribution to the day to day functioning
and the look of that whole catchment. It generates a unique ecosystem within the
urban features of that setting. That fragile ecosystem must be maintained to the state
of environmental equilibrium with the existing surroundings.
Major concerns are human encroachment, pollution and set up of informal activities
around it. It is the responsibility of the city authorities and people to check
environmental degradation as faced by these urban lake systems as a result of
encroachment, sedimentation, weed infestation, land reclamation, untreated sewage
and industrial effluent discharges and deforestation around them. After all this
awareness and realization, the condition of these water bodies is still distressing in
India.
The above mentioned problems leave adverse impact on the physical quality of life
in the city and on the natural environment. Ecosystems and natural cycles are
disturbed by these human interventions to the level that neither of the side receives
anything from the other. The balance between human dominated urban system and
the natural cycles in the lake catchment are completely destroyed.
A study in this context has been made for the case of Shahpura Lake Bhopal. This
research is an attempt at presenting a comprehensive view of the typical problems
experienced in the better known lake Shahpura, its present environmental status and
efforts being made to make them environmentally sustainable by suggesting
possible solutions.
