DPR for a portion of River Musi rejuvenation to be ready by January

The Telangana government’s plan to rejuvenate a 55-km stretch of River Musi has triggered protests from environmentalists and residents. While a consortium is preparing the DPR, critics argue that partial rejuvenation will not address pollution and flooding issues.

Hyderabad: Amidst concerns from environmental activists and objections being raised by residents, efforts are on to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for a portion of the River Musi stretch covering 55 kms in the city by January. The consortium involving three companies, including Meinhardt, RIOS and Cushman and Wakefield and alongwith ZHA and SOM, are already conducting different surveys to prepare the DPR.

After the consortium prepares the DPR for a portion of the river flow, the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) would submit it to the government. Accordingly, steps would be taken to raise nearly Rs.4,100 crore as a loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for executing the works.

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Last October, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had said the State government would pay Rs. 141 crore to the consortium for preparing the comprehensive DPR for the River Musi Rejuvenation project within 18 months.

Accordingly, drone and ground level surveys are being conducted all along the river banks. Already, surveys covering 500 metres and 100 metres buffer zones from the river banks have been completed and at present a survey for the 35 metres buffer zone was under progress, said a senior official from MRDCL.

“The DPR is currently being prepared for a portion of the 55 kms river flow from Narsingi to Godelli. The plan is to prepare project reports in a phased manner and execute works accordingly,” the official said.

In the initial survey reports, the consortium would recommend different aspects, including identification of encroachments, beautification, rehabilitation of residents and others. Even after repeated appeals from the Chief Minister to support the Musi project, residents are up in arms against it. Stressing the same, a senior official from GHMC pointed out that a few residents from Chaderghat had refused to move to the relief camps despite floods in the region last week.

“They stayed put on top of the building and we supplied food and other essentials through drones. Even after repeated appeals, the residents did not agree to move to the camps, fearing that their houses would be taken over by the government,” the official said.

Similarly, environmental experts and activists are also vehemently opposing the government plans to execute rejuvenation works covering only a portion of the entire river flow. They are expressing concerns that unless measures are initiated to control the flow of murky water and release of effluents into the river, rejuvenation efforts will be ineffective.

They are also stressing that if rejuvenation was confined to only a portion of the entire river flow, pollution in the upstream and downstream areas would cast an adverse impact, defeating the very purpose of taking up the project.