The Chief Minister of Telangana, Revanth Reddy, began his London visit on Thursday, January 18. He held a three-hour discussions with representatives and specialists from the Port of London Authority, the main organisation that oversees the Thames River.
He discussed his plans to revitalise the Musi river and his main motivation for traveling to London, which was to study the management of the Thames river, get knowledge from its management, and compile best practices.
“Most cities on earth have developed historically besides rivers, lakes, or the ocean. Water bodies are life-sustaining forces that power and enable urban human habitats. Hyderabad developed along the river Musi but is unique in being centered around Hussainsagar Lake and being fostered by other major water bodies, like Osmansagar. Once we reinvigorate and bring back Musi to its fullest force, Hyderabad will be powered by both a river and lakes,” said the chief minister.
Finding common ground between the CM’s vision and the London authorities’ Vision 2050, Port of London Authority representatives said, “We are ensuring the highest levels of sustainability for the river, even as we develop and optimise the developments along the banks. Our constant focus is on identifying the finest revenue models to guarantee the most advantages for individuals and local communities, as well as providing best-in-class project management for a range of current and upcoming initiatives.”
The highest authority gives Hyderabad permission to proceed with full backing in its attempts to revitalise the Musi river. There was a discussion of a more thorough breakdown of the several possible collaboration points. Both parties committed to more talks, more interactions, and working together on a number of particular initiatives in the future.
Ms. Sian Foster, Director of Corporate Affairs, and Ms. Raj Kehal-Livi, Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Port of London Authority, gave a thorough overview of the development activities along the Thames River, the challenges posed by nature and the engineering community’s response, the evolution of best practices over decades, stakeholder management, investments, and revenue management.
Participating in this programme were CM special secretary B Ajit Reddy, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) joint commissioners, and other officials.
