The manner in which CM A Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues are projecting a cost estimate of Rs.1.5 lakh crore much before a DPR is prepared, triggers doubts over the Musi Riverfront project
Hyderabad: The Congress government’s plans for River Musi appear to go much deeper than beautification or development of the riverfront, with the manner in which Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues are projecting a cost estimate of Rs.1.5 lakh crore much before a detailed project report is prepared. Adding more intrigue is the entry of a firm facing probes for embezzlement of funds in Pakistan and an Anti-Corruption Bureau probe in Jharkhand.
First and foremost among the triggers of doubt is how the Chief Minister and his Ministers arrived upon the cost estimate, which they themselves revised at least thrice, for a project that they say is for development of a 55-km stretch of the River Musi.
The Rs.1.5 lakh crore for 55 km is when the Centre’s multiple-project Namami Gange programme, expected to cover 2500 km, has in the last 10 years cost a much lesser Rs.39,080 crore. Another project that has similarities with the Musi project, the Sabarmati Riverfront project, began in 2003 and till 2019, has had Rs.1,400 crore spent on it, with another Rs.850 crore approved for Phase II in 2020.
Revanth Reddy & Co., meanwhile, are still a disjointed unit even on the DPR of the project, with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka saying in the Assembly that the DPR was ready, while Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu later refuted that, saying that it was still in the process of being prepared. Even the cost estimate saw cacophony, with Revanth Reddy saying on April 24 it would cost Rs.50,000 crore. On June 14, Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao said the programme would cost Rs.70,000 crore. On July 20, the Chief Minister again said it would cost Rs.1.5 lakh crore. On what basis was the cost estimate revised is unknown.
This is also when both the Centre and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation are still encountering different challenges in execution of the Namami Gange Programme and Sabarmati Riverfront projects respectively.
For instance, the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRDCL) wanted to auction a portion of the 204 hectares of land reclaimed then from the riverbed for commercial and residential development. However, the idea did not find many takers. Eventually, SRDCL came up with Sabarmati Riverfront Land Disposal Policy 2023 to do away with residential and cut down commercial development and focus on public places and recreational facilities. In this case too, there were not many takers.
The Seaplane service launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the 2017 Assembly elections was closed in 2021. A sports park, which was opened in 2020, was handed over to a Adani Group firm after it was idle for three years.
Moreover, it is not necessary that ideas that worked at a particular location could work out at River Musi, according to public policy expert Donthi Narasimha Reddy.
“It all depends on the State government’s objectives, which will be disclosed in the DPRs. Without DPRs, mere announcements in the media will not reflect the true intentions,” he said, asking how many farmers, citizens or a city would benefit out of such mammoth investments.
To top it all, ensuring flow of water, particularly treated water is another challenged. The primary objective of any riverfront project would be ensuring flow of clean water.
In the context of River Musi, the previous BRS government, to ensure flow of treated water in the river, had launched a project to construct 31 Sewerage Treatment Plants (STPs) with 1259.50 MLD capacity at a cost of Rs.3,866.41 crore. This also made Hyderabad the only city to achieve 100 percent sewage treatment infrastructure.
Majority of the work towards this initiative has already been done. Already works for 20 STPs were grounded and 11 have been operational, including two STPs that were inaugurated at Nallacheruvu and Peddacheruvu on March 10.
In addition these, on August 3, the State government issued administrative sanction of Rs.3,849.10 crore for construction of another 39 STPs till ORR limits under AMRUT 2.0. After such a crucial component of the Musi project is already done, what is the Rs.1.5 lakh crore going to be used for remains the big question.
And topping the doubts, the entry of the Meinhardt Group.
The group is involved in a scam, known as the Meinhardt scam, in Jharkhand, where the Anti-Corruption Bureau is probing alleged irregularities by former Jharkhand Chief Minister and BJP national vice-president Raghubar Das and others in the appointment of Meinhardt Singapore Private Limited as a consultant for the Ranchi sewerage-drainage project in 2005. Even the CAG had pointed out anomalies in the functioning of Meinhardt with regard to surveys it conducted, while courts had questioned the eligibility of the firm.
The Singapore-based firm is also reportedly facing a major probe in Pakistan in what is being labelled by the media as the Creek Marina scam. Though the company refuted the allegations, why did Revanth Reddy welcome the group when it evinced interest in the Musi project and ask it to design a Musi riverfront development model all add to the doubts.