Not Musi River rejuvenation, but lootification: KTR

BRS working president KT Rama Rao has accused Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of misleading the Assembly and the public over the Musi River rejuvenation project, calling it a Rs 1.5 lakh crore scam. He criticised the demolition of poor households along the river while ignoring illegal constructions by the wealthy.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of misleading the Assembly and the people of Telangana on the Musi River rejuvenation project.

He said the Chief Minister hatched a conspiracy for the biggest scam in Telangana’s history under the guise of the project.

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In response to the Chief Minister’s claims in the Assembly on Friday, Rama Rao stated that the Chief Minister lacked any real vision to clean Musi and was driven by animosity towards the BRS, which is questioning the project and his alleged illegal wealth. He said the language used by Revanth Reddy in the House was more offensive than the pollution choking the river.

The BRS working president questioned how the government announced an expenditure of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the project even before the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was prepared.

“The Chief Minister, who admitted that the DPR preparation would take another year, must explain why the houses of the poor living on the Musi river banks were demolished even before the planning and statutory approvals were completed,” he demanded.

Criticising the government for a lack of transparency, he stated that the Congress government was conspiring to hand over the Musi River Rejuvenation Project to a blacklisted firm, Meinhardt, against which Red Corner Notices were issued. He suspected that the Congress was attempting large-scale financial irregularities under the guise of Musi beautification.

He criticised the government’s plans to demolish the homes of the poor and displace over one lakh people residing along the Musi River, while ignoring alleged illegal constructions by the rich and influential persons near Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar. “This exposed the government’s priorities,” he added.

Rama Rao blamed successive Congress and TDP governments in the undivided Andhra Pradesh for polluting the Musi River and turning it into a sewage drain. He said Nalgonda district suffered prolonged fluoride contamination under both their regimes, which was addressed only during the BRS tenure through Mission Bhagiratha.

He challenged the Chief Minister to clarify whether the proposed 20 TMCft of water for the Musi River, would be sourced from the Kaleshwaram project. He accused Revanth Reddy of attacking the Kaleshwaram project politically, while depending on it operationally.

Recalling the BRS government’s initiatives, the former Minister said global tenders were earlier invited for Musi River rejuvenation at an estimated Rs 16,000 crore, with nine firms submitting designs. However, he said the Congress revised these estimates only to inflate the costs.

He cited the construction of 36 sewage treatment plants and riverfront works without displacing the poor. He asserted that the BRS would continue to stand with people affected by the project.