No master plan, no consultant, but River Musi project cost shoots up from Rs 50k cr to Rs 1.5 lakh cr

During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had said the project would be taken up with Rs.50,000 crore.

Hyderabad: Cost escalations and estimates shooting up are nothing new for major projects, but in the strange case of the Musi Riverfront Development Project, the estimated cost has shot up from Rs.50,000 crore to Rs.1.5 lakh crore even before a master plan is ready and before a consultant has been appointed!

During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had said the project would be taken up with Rs.50,000 crore. Later on June 14, Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao at a programme said the flagship programme for Musi Riverfront development would be taken up at a cost of Rs.70,000 crore.

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On Saturday, the Chief Minister after throwing open the Gopanpally flyover, said plans would be prepared for executing the Musi Riverfront project by spending Rs.1.5 lakh crore in five years. The works would be launched soon, he said. All these estimate escalations have happened in the last seven months since he visited London and announced the project.

Interestingly, all these estimates have been “revised” even as the State government’s plans to get an aggregate master plan for the project are still under progress. In between, addressing the gathering during the Telangana State Formation Day celebrations at Parade Grounds, the Chief Minister had said Rs.1000 crore was already allocated for the project.

Interestingly, the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited had invited consultants for the aggregate master planning of the project in February, and the last date to finalise the consultant was later extended to March. Almost four months later, the consultant is yet to be finalized, a senior official said.

Similarly, agencies were also invited for conducting structural stability of the existing 17 bridges across the river and for fixing boundary stones and buffer. Even these agencies are yet to be finalised, the official added.

Till Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleague reveal the basis of the estimates, even officials appear to be in the dark.