Revanth Reddy does volte face on Musi project cost, asks who said Rs 1.5 lakh crore!

Revanth Reddy did a complete volte face on Thursday, asking who ever quoted such a figure, when the cost of the agreement entered into by the government for the project was only Rs.141 crore.

Hyderabad: Even when there were multiple videos from multiple sources showing him announcing that he would take up the Musi riverfront development project with Rs.1.5 lakh crore,would be taken up in the past, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy did a complete volte face on Thursday, asking who ever quoted such a figure, when the cost of the agreement entered into by the government for the project was only Rs.141 crore.

Stating that it was a River Musi rejuvenation project and not beautification project, he said the agreement was signed with a consortium of five companies to prepare a Detailed Project Report for Musi with Rs.141 crore. The consortium, including Meinhardt and Cushman & Wakefield, would submit the DPR in 18 months. In the next five years, it would assist the government in raising funds for the project or executing under a PPP model or toll fee collection model, he said at a press conference here, also exuding confidence of the Centre’s support for the project.

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Even if there was no support due to political obligations, the State government would take up the project, he said, questioning why opposition parties were opposing the project.

“I appeal to all opposition parties to furnish their fears in questions and the government will give written reply. This apart, an exclusive Assembly session will be conducted on the River Musi project and it is a bigger platform than all-party meeting,” Revanth Reddy said, announcing that a cabinet sub-committee would also be constituted to form political consensus.

The State government was open to suggestions from opposition parties over the rehabilitation to be extended to the oustees. The double bedroom beneficiaries had demolished their homes voluntarily and the government did not demolish even a brick, he claimed, also announcing that the project would be taken up only with the consensus of all people.

“I am like the captain and if the players do not want to play, it will be stopped,” he said, also asking BJP MP Etala Rajender, BRS MLAs KT Rama Rao and T Harish Rao to stay in the riverbed areas for three months. If they felt that the project was not required after that, the agreement would be cancelled and the loss suffered by government would be covered by offering his personal assets, Revanth Reddy claimed.

Defending the Indian Navy’s Very Low Frequency radar station at Damagundam, the Chief Minister said there were many mobile towers across the city. “Did people suffer from their radiations?” he asked.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy made another faux pas on Thursday at the press conference, when he said Meinhardt had successfully completed the Statue of Unity project in Gujarat and also the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad. Yet, the BRS was levelling allegations against the company, he said, calling the BRS opposition a false campaign. This, however, was when Meinhardt had nothing to do with the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad, a fact that the Chief Minister’s team later tried to correct, but only after he went ahead making the non-existent connection of Meinhardt to the Statue of Equality.