Believe it or not, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) is allegedly responsible for encroaching on a key service lane on Sultania Road, opposite the offices of the district collector.

Residents say, the BMC has erected poles at one end of the service lane outside the Koh-e-Fiza fitness centre run by the civic body to keep motorists from entering the passage.

BMC's inclusion on the list of encroachers is surprising, considering the urban body is responsible for removing encroachments from roads in the state capital.

Though the encroachment by the BMC is the most blatant, several others have also encroached on the service lane, where business owners have broken and removed the side verge—separating the lane from the busy Bhopal-Indore highway—before converting it into a private parking space.

Highway safety protocols prescribe the building of service lanes to prevent motorists from driving straight onto highways and causing accidents. However, with the civic body itself usurping the public space, haphazardly parked vehicles can be seen along the entire stretch from Koh-e-Fiza hospital to the fitness centre.

Emboldened by the BMC, the encroachment in the area is so dense that it even forces pedestrians to walk on the highway and risk their lives.

If the situation in Koh-e-Fiza is bad, encroachment on service lanes over a long stretch from Veer Savarkar Setu to Mandideep is even worse.

Though the lane on the CSIR side of the road is well maintained, the situation on the other side of the road is pathetic, with shopkeepers encroaching on the bumpy, pothole-filled lane.

The condition of service lanes on either side of Bag Sevania police station is especially bad, as car dealerships have encroached on the lane to park their vehicles.

On the service lane leading from Aashima Mall through Misrod towards the 11 Mile Bridge, people park their cars to enjoy shopping. As for the pedestrian pathways, they are occupied by vegetable carts, stalls selling eatables, and other kiosks.

The BMC and the Public Works Department (PWD), the two departments responsible for roads in the city, often indulge in buck-passing while blaming the other for growing encroachments along roads.

However, at a time when Bhopal is gearing up to host the Global Investor Summit, both BMC and PWD must come together to remove encroachments and stop road deaths, which can so  easily undermine all the good work being done by Chief Minister Mohan Yadav to boost the economic climate in the city.