Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao clarified on Friday that his party is not against the Musi river rejuvenation project but has concerns about its high estimated cost of Rs 1.5 lakh crore. According to him, the project can be completed with just Rs 25,000 crore.
Rao criticized the Congress party, claiming that the project has turned into a money-making scheme for them. In response to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Rao presented a power-point showing the BRS government’s original plans for the project.
Rao questioned why the Congress government is restarting the entire process for the Musi river project. He mentioned that tenders had already been called previously, and nine firms from around the world had submitted designs to improve Hyderabad’s reputation. “The designs are ready; there’s no need to spend more money. We handed over the project to Revanth Reddy. Why are tenders being called again?” he asked.
KTR pointed out that there are 11,000 structures within the Musi buffer zone, with each structure housing four to five families. This means nearly one lakh people could be displaced by the project. He highlighted that important infrastructure like the Imliban bus station and Metro station are located within the riverbed area.
He also recalled how Chief Minister KCR had suggested putting the project on hold due to the large number of displacements involved. The BRS leader shared that the government had planned to build 14 bridges across the Musi river, with an allocated budget of Rs 545 crore, and also proposed the construction of the East Expressway along the river at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore.
Additionally, Rao said that water from the Kaleshwaram project could be brought through Kondapochammasagar to Nalgonda, and retaining walls could be built on both sides of the Musi river. He remarked that this might be “the most expensive project in the world” and accused the consortium company Meinhardt of cost escalation, pointing out that a red-corner notice was issued against the company.
