More than 5,000 objections have been filed against Bhopal’s draft Master Plan 2047, with farmers, residents and traders opposing provisions affecting land use, residential areas and commercial establishments.

The state published the draft in the MP Gazette on September 25 and allowed 30 days for objections.

Farmers on the Upper Lake’s edge, Arera Colony residents, and traders around Bittan Market want different things. Each group names a provision it says threatens them.

Farmers from Mugalia Chhap warn that land across 66 villages could fall under riverfront, forest, green belt and lake-conservation categories.

Farmers, including Bharatiya Kisan Sangh members, point out that the 1995 plan kept this land agricultural, and a 2031 draft did too, but authorities later cancelled it.

They want gram sabhas to weigh in before any land-use change.

“I have forwarded the objections to the Town and Country Planning (T&CP) department and the collector,” BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma told reporters.

The Joint Residents’ Struggle Committee filed about 2,000 objections in a single day, lifting the total to 3,800.

Residents attack Clause 15.38, which allows regularisation of non-residential activity in homes, and Clause 15.39, the “Market Street” concept.

The Arera Colony Rehwasi Sangh wants the residential character of the RG-3 zone, particularly blocks E-1 to E-5, kept intact.

The committee said the plan should not become a route to “granting legitimacy to illegal constructions,” The Hans India reported.

They also oppose building in the Upper Lake catchment and tiger corridors.

Traders from groups including the Bhopal Vyapari Mahasangh arrived at the T&CP office on Friday with banners and a memorandum.

Mahasangh president Anand Soni told the Times of India his group had filed 2,500 objections and wanted traders and residents on the committee that writes the final draft.

The traders want a one-time conversion fee of 5 per cent instead of a recurring charge, and an end to the municipal shutdown drive.

They fear that high conversion fees will squeeze small shops even where the plan allows mixed use.

The groups pull in opposite directions. Residents want shops out of their lanes and Traders want protection for the shops already there.

T&CP assistant director Indu Tripathi said her office invited objections within the prescribed 30 days and will call stakeholders for hearings.

BMC chief city planner Neeraj Anand Likhar said staff are sorting the objections into four or five categories, with examination starting after October 25.

Authorities expect about 15 days of sorting before they announce a hearing schedule.

None of the reports reviewed officials answering the farmers’ land-use complaint or the two disputed clauses.

The hearings will test whether any provision changes.