Telangana CM Revanth Reddy attacked Opposition - BRS and BJP - over their criticism about the Musi River development project.
Published Oct 17, 2024 | 11:23 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 17, 2024 | 11:23 PM
Telangana CM Revanth Reddy
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, on Thursday, 17 October dared leaders of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to live for three months on the banks of the Musi River. He said if they managed to do that, he would abandon the Musi Rejuvenation Project.
Revanth Reddy asked BRS leaders KT Rama Rao, T Harish Rao and BJP MP Eatala Rajender whether they would shift to homes on the banks of the river for three months so that they could get a first-hand experience of the lives of those affected by the pollution of the river.
He was reacting to the trenchant criticism of the Musi Rejuvenation Project by the Opposition parties. “I will allot three houses to each on the Musi River Bank. I will provide facilities for their stay, I will even supply food. If they can live for three months there, I am ready to abandon the Musi River Project,” the chief minister said.
Speaking to the media at the state secretariat, the chief minister criticised Opposition leaders for picking holes in the project. The Opposition leaders had earlier claimed that they would stand in the path of bulldozers to prevent the demolition of houses.
“For 10 years, you were in power. You have not bothered even to look at the houses on Musi banks. Now you do not want me to clean the river. What am I going to get out of it? I want to hand over to posterity a river that flows freely, without obstruction,” the chief minister said.
The Musi, a tributary of the Krishna, flows through Hyderabad, dividing the city’s Old and New areas. It flows into Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar, artificial lakes that serve as reservoirs and provide water to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
Revanth Reddy explained that he had hired five consultants of international repute to prepare a detailed project report for the rejuvenation of the river.
“My timeline is six and half years. The government has entered into an agreement with them for ₹141 crore for the exercise. The consultants will take about one and a half years to prepare the DPR. I will require another four years to implement the Musi project,” CM Revanth Reddy said, wondering why the BRS was alleging that the project would cost ₹1.5 lakh crore.
“Maybe they think all others are like them, to rob the state with scams like Kaleshwaram,” he said.
The CM was referring to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project undertaken during the regime of K Chandrashekhar Rao. The ₹94,000 crore project had been flagged by the National Green Tribunal and the Comptroller and Accountant General for environmental violations and financial unviability, but that did not deter the government from proceeding with it.
The claims of the area that would be irrigated through lift irrigation have also not been realised.
The CM said he would not inconvenience residents of the Musi banks while undertaking work of river rejuvenation. He said houses were allotted to those living on the banks elsewhere, and ₹25,000 was offered to them to enable them to shift.
“We are going to take care of their livelihood at their new locations. We are not forcing them. We are providing the best alternative to them and they are happy. Only the Opposition BRS is not,” the chief minister said.
The government had identified about 10,000 houses which are in the buffer zone of the Musi, he explained, adding that compensation to those residents too was being negotiated.
The chief minister said a special session of the state Assembly could be called to discuss the Musi Rejuvenation Project.
“I want all the parties – BRS, BJP, MIM and the CPI – to suggest what we should do for Musi dwellers. I want the political parties to send their suggestions by 19 October so that I could get cracking on the work. Let them come up with the best solution to the problem at hand,” the chief minister said.
He deplored the anti-Musi Rejuvenation project stand taken by the BRS. “Anyone who opposes the Musi project is doing a great harm to Hyderabad. Unable to digest the fact that they lost power, they are trying to discredit the state government. If the Musi is allowed as it is, it will result in destruction which would be worse than the effect of the twin atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II,” the chief minister said.
He was taking a swipe at the previous BRS government for crushing the protests of evacuees of the Mallanna Sagar dam. “We are not like you, to trample on Musi dwellers with policemen on horses,” the chief minister said.
Revanth Reddy alleged that the BRS does not want a better life for those living on the banks of the river. “They want them to live near a river that stinks to high heavens. Though the World Health Organisation warned of disastrous consequences if the Musi is left to its fate, the BRS leaders were not bothered,” he said.
He said it was because the people saw the indifference of the BRS government that they did so poorly in the general elections. “They have not come to senses even though they lost all 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. They had even lost security deposits in seven seats. The people have seen their gameplan,” the chief minister said.
The chief minister also defended the location of the Very Low Frequency (VLF) radar station of the Indian Navy, to enable communication with submarines, which is set to come up in Damagundam in Vikarabad district.
The radar station will be located about 90 km from Hyderabad, close to the source of the River Musi. The project has attracted public protest, as about 2,900 acres of land under the Damagundam forest reserve would be taken up by it.
The chief minister said the project was essential for national security and the Navy made the choice of land as it is strategically located and would enhance maritime capabilities. He said the BRS leaders who earlier granted clearance for the project were now crying foul.
He said fears of disruption of ecology were unfounded, and referred to the VLF station in Tamil Nadu set up in 1990. “It has done no harm to the environment,” he said.
(Edited by Rosamma Thomas)
