“Musi river rejuvenation project is a scandal to make”-Telangana Today

KTR says BRS is not opposed to the project but against displacement of thousands of families and inflated costs

Hyderabad: BRS president KT Rama Rao on Friday came out all guns blazing against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accusing him of turning the Musi river rejuvenation project into a massive scam, driving up costs by Rs 25,000 crore of Rs to Rs 1.5 crore and to use the project as ‘ATM for the Congress’.

Stating categorically that the BRS was not opposed to the river rejuvenation project but against the displacement of thousands of families and inflated costs, he said the State government started illegal demolitions without following due process.

“The government does not have a detailed project report, environmental and socio-economic impact studies, or approvals from the competent departments. The evictees are being evicted without giving them fair compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 brought by the UPA government. All these factors give clear indications of a major scandal in the making,” he said while giving a point-by-point powerpoint rebuttal to Revanth Reddy’s claims.

Detailing the BRS’s initiatives for the rejuvenation of the Musi river, contrasting them with the “corrupt” plans of the Congress, Rama Rao accused Revanth Reddy of making baseless claims and ignoring the real needs of the river. “The Chief Minister himself is not clear about the objectives of the project and keeps changing them: development, beautification, cleaning, rejuvenation and now water in the old Nalgonda district. Similarly, there is no clarity about the costs of the project,” he said.

The BRS Working President outlined the efforts made by the BRS government over the past decade, highlighting investments in sewage treatment plants (STPs) costing over Rs 3.8 billion, aimed at treating 100% of Hyderabad sewage. Once these STPs are completed, Hyderabad would be the first city in South Asia to achieve this, ensuring that no untreated water flows into the Musi River. He also explained the plans to link the Godavari river with Musi through the Kaleshwaram project, permanently solving the sewage problem.

Rama Rao also accused Revanth Reddy of collaborating with companies with a questionable history like Meinhardt, which he alleged was involved in global financial crimes. Raising doubts that the Congress was planning to loot hundreds of crores under the guise of beautifying the Musi River, he criticized the Congress government’s decision to inflate the cost of the project to Rs 1.5 trillion, far exceeding the previous government’s estimate of Rs 16.8 billion. He recalled that the Prime Minister initially mentioned the cost of the project at Rs 50,000 crore, which was later increased to Rs 1.5 crore without any explanation.

“There is no logical explanation for the escalation of costs. They also cannot justify the demolition of more than 300 houses without even preparing the detailed project report, environmental and socio-economic impact or authorizations from the authorities including the environment,” he noted, warning the government not to harm the lives and properties of disadvantaged families living in the buffer zone. He also warned that displacing the poor through such schemes would not be tolerated corrupt

The BRS Working President pointed to Revanth Reddy’s earlier argument on the Return on Investment (RoI) for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and demanded to know the RoI of the Musi River project. “With Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), the BRS could stabilize and create irrigation facilities around 40 lakh acres. What is the ROI of the Musi river rejuvenation project?” he asked

He also questioned the logic behind the Chief Minister handing over nearly 2,900 acres of forest land in Damagundam, the source point of the Musi River, for the Indian Navy’s VLF radar station which poses a threat to the same he laughs He also asked the rationale for promoting the city of the future or the fourth city, if Musi Riverfront was really the ultimate answer for the development of the city.

Rama Rao also questioned the need for a Rs 1.5 billion project with fresh loans when the ministers themselves claimed they did not have the funds to implement the Six Guarantees and other election promises.