Congress inflating Musi River project cost for massive scam, says KTR

BRS leader KT Rama Rao accused the Congress government of inflating the Musi River project cost from Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 1.5 lakh crore for a scam. He said the project was aimed at diverting funds, not development

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Thursday alleged that the Congress government was preparing to plunder public funds under the guise of the Musi River purification and beautification project. He said the estimates had been deliberately inflated from Rs 16,000 crore, proposed by the previous K Chandrashekhar Rao government, to Rs 1.5 lakh crore for a massive scam.

In a statement, Rama Rao said this was a pretext to divert funds in the name of urban development.

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“The government is rushing this project only to send money bags to Delhi. This project is a plunder of public money, not a development initiative,” he said, recalling that the previous BRS government had prepared a comprehensive master plan and laid the groundwork.

Rama Rao said Hyderabad first received Godavari River water through the Kaleshwaram project under BRS rule. In 2022, the BRS government approved a proposal with a budget of Rs 1,100 crore to bring water from Kondapochamma Sagar to Gandipet Lake as part of long-term planning for Hyderabad’s water needs.

He pointed out that the BRS government had also taken concrete measures for Musi River rejuvenation. “We constructed 36 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) to treat 2,000 MLD of sewage flowing into Musi River. We completed a 5 km beautification stretch near Nagole and even set up a Shilparamam on the Musi banks at Uppal Bagayat,” he said.

Accusing the Congress government of rushing the project to consolidate its position by sending money bags to Delhi under the guise of urban development, he warned that the BRS would not remain silent.

Calling out the Congress leadership, Rama Rao said the same leaders who claimed that the Kaleshwaram project had collapsed were now planning to use water from Kondapochamma Sagar, one of its integral components. He said people of Telangana were noticing this double standard, which exposed the Congress leaders’ deceit.