The Chief Minister announced plans to meet with all parties, inviting BRS leaders to share suggestions with ministers or officials if they can’t meet him directly. He emphasised careful decision-making and commitment to implementation, regardless of opposition views
Published Oct 30, 2024 | 11:20 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 30, 2024 | 11:20 AM
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has doubled down on his resolve to go ahead with the Musi Rejuvenation Project
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has doubled on his resolve to go ahead with the Musi Rejuvenation Project, despite stiff opposition from the BRS.
In an informal interaction with reporters on Tuesday, 29 October, the chief minister said that the foundation stone for the Musi Rejuvenation Project would be laid in the first week of November. In the first phase, the government intends to develop the river for 21 km upstream from Bapu Ghat.
The chief minister said the government was actively considering the diversion of Godavari waters to Osman Sagar on Musi from Mallanna Sagar to make Musi a perennial river. He said tenders for this project would be floated in November.
Revanth Reddy said there was no question of going back on the Musi rejuvenation project, come what may. He said he had deliberately raised the curtain for a debate on Musi so that people would know that there was one leader who was interested in cleansing and rejuvenating the river.
The chief minister said he would call a meeting of all parties and that BRS leaders could offer their suggestions to the government by meeting the ministers or the officials if they have any problem meeting him.
Revanth Reddy added that he thinks a thousand times before making a decision and that he would not hesitate to implement them, regardless of whatever the Opposition thinks.
He said Opposition leader K Chandrashekar Rao was welcome to offer his suggestions on the rejuvenation of the Musi river. He said he was also inviting BRS leaders KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao to give their suggestions.
The chief minister said he was ready to undertake a padayatra from Wadapalli in Nalgonda district where Musi enters the Krishna river to Vikarabad where it originates to promote awareness of the need to turn Musi into a perennial river.
He said BRS leaders were welcome to join him in the padayatra adding that once the project was implemented for a distance of 55 km of the river, the city would acquire an amazing look.
Revanth Reddy wanted the people’s representative to have a broad vision of how the rejuvenation of a river could take place by implementing appropriate projects.
He added that he would send a delegation of Hyderabad MLAs and Corporators to Seoul to study how rivers in the South Korean capital had been brought back to life and how they enriched the look of the capital city.
Turning his guns at Chandrashekar Rao, he said he had outlived his utility. The chief minister said he has his style in politics and he knew the rules of the game and how to plan ahead as he was a football player.
The chief minister said he was not resorting to vindictive politics.
“The inquiry into the scams of Kaleshwaram, power purchase agreements and phone tapping that took place during the BRS regime are ongoing. As the inquiry is on, there would be no witch-hunting,” Revanth Reddy said.
“After the proceedings are over, action will be initiated based on the reports the probe agencies submit,” he said, adding that he had no ambitions since he had reached his aim of becoming the chief minister.
He said he had no ambitions bigger than that of becoming the chief minister and that he would do whatever good he intended to for the people, no matter what.
The chief minister said that though Chandrashekar Rao left the state financially impoverished, he was trying to fulfil all his commitments.
He said even though the coffers of the state government had touched rock bottom, he had cleared loan waivers for farmers and that was paying salaries to the employees on the first of every month.
Revanth Reddy added that fee reimbursement to educational institutions had also been done. “The government would offer a package the Musi dwellers would be happy about,” he said.
Referring to the “housewarming party” on the occasion of Deepavali, at Rama Rao’s brother-in-law Raj Pakala’s residence in Janwada of the Rangareddy district a couple of days ago, he said that usually Deepavali parties were celebrated by firing crackers and not by opening foreign liquor bottles.
He wanted to know if Raj was celebrating Deepavali with imported whiskey.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
