Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy threw down an unusual gauntlet on Friday evening, March 13, saying that if political parties opposed to the Musi Riverfront Development Project pass a resolution against it in the upcoming Assembly Budget Session, he is willing to scrap it entirely.
“At the maximum, I would think about becoming the CM again and our government coming to power again. What will I get if I make the poor people my enemies,” he said, addressing a packed gathering at Taj Krishna Hotel in Hyderabad, where the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Phase 1 of the project was unveiled before a consortium of global corporates, foreign diplomats, subject matter experts, environmentalists, civil society organisations, administrators and media.
Friday’s event marked the formal public unveiling of the Phase 1 DPR, presented by EV Narasimha Reddy, Managing Director of the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited. The project is likely to cost up to Rs 7,000 crore, Narasimha Reddy said.
The room was filled with Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad, Legislative Council Vice-Chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy and Special Chief Secretary for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Jayesh Ranjan, among others.
‘Bring arguments to Assembly’
The Telangana CM’s appeal to the Opposition was direct, saying they could bring objections to the Assembly session, debate the project on the floor and, if there are questions about compensation for potential land evictees, they could put them on the table. He said the government was open to a conversation, but wanted it conducted through proper democratic channels rather than outside of them.
Anticipating a line of attack against the project, Revanth Reddy sought to address fears about displacement head-on. He assured that every family relocated from the Musi riverfront will be moved to purpose-built resettlement colonies close to their original areas, so that their livelihoods remain intact. The government, he said, will build houses, schools and provide all necessary facilities in these colonies.
He pointed to 150 acre of government land available in Amberpet constituency, of which 20 to 25 acre could be developed into a resettlement colony for families displaced from the Musi banks in that constituency alone.
Injustice will be done to none in land acquisition: CM
Noting that there were only 10,000 people who were found living on the Musi river bed and the buffer zones, Revanth Reddy said it took four to five months of enumeration exercise after which the government arrived at that number.
He said that the state government had allotted 1,500 houses to the first batch of land evictees, but many of them urged that they didn’t want to relocate to faraway places.
“We listened to them. We also gave assurance to the Musi Jan Andolan people that the poor will be resettled properly. We also took Asaduddin Owaisi’s suggestions on relocating the people within their local constituencies,” the Telangana CM pointed out.
“Even the Defence Ministry is willing to give 100 acre for the construction of the Gandhi Sarovar Project so that the Gandhian ideology can be spread. There are army training camps in the area and they are ready to relocate,” he said.
He also referred to the restoration of Kukatpally Nalla Cheruvu and Bum-Rukn-Ud-Dowla lakes by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), which were criticised by some people initially but which were now being appreciated by the people who live around them as well as hundreds of people who go there for morning walks and recreation.
“Even the people of the Old City of Hyderabad are happily coming forward, willing to give land for road widening, elevated corridors, Hyderabad Metro works and Mir Alam Tank Cable Bridge,” he claimed, assuring that injustice will be done to none while acquiring lands for the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
On real estate and jobs
The Congress leader was unapologetic about the project’s commercial dimensions. Responding to criticism that the government was chasing real estate interests, he said, “Some are saying Revanth Reddy is thinking only about real estate. Yes, I will think about real estate. Thousands of jobs will be created in the Global Capability Centres when their buildings are constructed.”
He questioned why a government shouldn’t think about real estate, pharma, IT and other sectors in the same breath that it thinks about the poor.
The Telangana CM said supporters of the project had been largely silent, while those against it had been vocal.
Revanth Reddy mocks BJP and BRS leaders
Revanth Reddy also noted that the river bed and buffer zones were being demarcated only based on the guidelines and norms of the Central Water Commission (CWC), which works under the Union Jal Shakti Ministry.
“On one side, the guidelines were formed by their own party at the Centre and it is weird to see that they are opposing it in the state,” he said, mocking the Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for opposing the project.
The Telangana CM said he was ready to install container houses on the banks of the Musi River for those political leaders who were trying to obstruct the project, so that they could themselves experience what it was like to live on the river’s banks for three months.
“I can install one container house for every half a kilometer along the 55-km stretch of Musi for those people to live for three months. At the maximum, I’ll have to install 100 to 200 houses. Can they survive there?” he asked.
Comparing the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders (without naming them) with Maareecha, Subahu and other Rakshasas who used to disturb the sages performing penance for the prosperity of humankind, Revanth Reddy observed that just like those Rakshasas who were killed by Lord Rama, those obstructing the “good” will meet the same fate.
Carrying the Nizams’ legacy
Heaping praise on the seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, for his great contributions in creating the irrigation and public infrastructure in the erstwhile Hyderabad State, Revanth Reddy said that if not for his vision, Hyderabad wouldn’t have had some of the magnificent structures that now define the heritage here.
“People may view the Nizam’s rule from a certain perspective, but today, every structure built during his reign still stands strong, whether is the the Osmansagar and Himayatsagar twin-reservoirs, Osmania General Hospital, Telangana High Court, City College, and many other structures. Is it not our duty to build at least 10 per cent of what he built over a century ago?” Revanth Reddy asked.
He also reiterated that the Nizam had created a special economic zone around the Charminar, which is still thriving. He gave the examples of Kabootar Khana and the pearl industry around the Charminar, to name a few.
Also crediting former chief ministers of the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu and Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy for creating Cyberabad and bringing companies like Microsoft and Google, which have brought about a sea change in the lives of the people, Revanth Reddy questioned why such progress should be obstructed.
“From 1994 to 2024, all the chief ministers and parties in power have contributed in some way for the development of Hyderabad. I have always said that good initiatives of the past governments should continue. But we can’t go back to the primitive ages. Shouldn’t we take a lesson from the changing situations globally?” he asked.
“If I’m doing something wrong, then tell me. I’ll correct it and implement your suggestions. But don’t say no,” the CM urged those opposing the project.
Suggestions invited
EV Narasimha Reddy, towards the end of his presentation on the first phase of the project, urged the people to give their suggestions on the project on https://musi.telangana.gov.in. He also said that the DPR will be uploaded on that website in a week, for suggestions and final consultations with regard to the project.
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