KTR attacks Congress Bulldozer model for Musi development, dares govt to build houses first

KT Rama Rao criticized the Congress government’s Musi Riverfront project in Hyderabad, claiming it risks displacing 1.5 lakh residents. He demanded cost transparency, protection of poor households, and offered BRS leadership to complete the project responsibly

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao castigated the Congress government over the proposed Musi Riverfront development project, which would affect over 1.5 lakh people living near the river banks in the State capital. He blamed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for planning large-scale demolitions and inflating project costs under the guise of urban development.

After inspecting stretches of the Musi River development works including the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) taken up during the previous BRS regime near Nagole on Thursday, the BRS working president interacted with the affected families of Musi Riverfront project.

Speaking on the occassion, Rama Rao demanded that the government complete the riverfront project without demolishing houses of the poor. He said if the Congress government was incapable of it, the project along with the Rs.16,000-crore allocation should be handed over to BRS which would complete the work before the next Assembly elections.

He explained that the previous BRS government had prepared a comprehensive plan to rejuvenate the river at a cost of about Rs 16,000 crore. The plan included construction of 32 sewage treatment plants, 15 bridge-cum-check dams, riverfront beautification and related infrastructure.

The former Municipal Minister contrasted the BRS development model with the Congress government’s bulldozer model. He stated that the proposed Musi project under the present Congress government could render around 1.5 lakh people homeless, pushing thousands of families into uncertainty.

“Musi River can be rejuvenated without destruction,” he said, citing the 5.5 km river stretch developed near Nagole during the BRS government without displacing a single household.

He questioned the Congress government’s proposal to undertake the project at a significantly higher estimated cost of about Rs.1.5 lakh crore, including Rs.5,000 crore for the Gandhi Sarovar component. According to him, the massive escalation raised doubts about the government’s intent.

Rama Rao also ridiculed the Chief Minister’s proposal to rehabilitate displaced families in double-bedroom houses constructed during the BRS regime. Challenging the government’s claims on housing for the poor, he said he would quit politics if the Chief Minister could prove that the Congress government had built even a single house for the poor in Hyderabad in the past two years.

Accusing the government of marking houses for demolition without a clear detailed project report and terrorising people, the BRS leader said residents in several parts of Hyderabad were living in fear of sudden evictions. He warned that BRS activists would resist any attempt to demolish homes of the poor in the name of the Musi project. He said the party would also raise the issue forcefully in the upcoming Assembly sessions.

He accused the Congress of turning the Musi beautification project into lootification. Instead, he urged the government to adopt a plan that protects residents, while restoring the river ecosystem. He reiterated that the BRS was not opposed to the Musi River rejuvenation, but asserted that development should not come at the cost of displacing vulnerable communities or triggering large-scale social disruption.

Former Ministers P Sabitha Indra Reddy, Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Ch Malla Reddy, Mohd Mahmood Ali, MLAs D Sudheer Reddy, KP Vivekananda, Mutha Gopal, Bandari Lakshma Reddy, Kaleru Venkatesh, MLCs Surabhi Vani Devi and Shambhipur Raju, and several other BRS leaders were present.