Survey begins for demolition of encroachments along Musi River in Greater Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sep 26 (IANS) Authorities on Thursday launched a survey of illegal houses and other structures that came up all along the Musi River in Hyderabad and adjoining districts in preparation for the Musi Riverfront Development Project.

Several teams of officials along with the police were visiting residential areas that had encroached upon the river bed and the buffer zone in Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri districts.

The team members were seen marking the structures which will be removed to clear the river bed and buffer zone of all encroachments.

The officials were seen surveying Langar Houz, Chaderghat, Musa Nagar, Shankar Nagar and other areas.

The officials were collecting details of the residents and checking their documents.

Police personnel were seen accompanying the officials to prevent any untoward incident.

A total of 16 teams were conducting a survey in Hyderabad district, four teams in Rangareddy district and five teams in Medchal Malkajgiri district.

At a few places, residents raised objection to the survey and raised slogans against the government.

They showed their property registration documents and said they have been living in the area for decades and paying property tax, electricity and water bills.

A woman criticised the Telangana government for removing the encroachments and planning to shift them to other places.

“Will the two-bedroom house be sufficient for us,” she asked regarding the government’s decision to allot double-bedroom houses to those being removed from the river bed and buffer zone.

One of the residents questioned the government for calling their houses illegal.

He appealed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to intervene and direct Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to stop this action against poor families.

The survey began a day after the state government issued orders allotting approximately 15,000 double bedroom housing units for rehabilitation of the eligible economically poor families that will be moved for the Musi Riverfront Development project.

According to the Government Order, these families may be allotted 2BHK housing in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area, subject to eligibility.

The officials said they would soon begin the removal of 10,000-odd illegal dwellings and commercial structures.

A preliminary survey conducted by the revenue department revealed that there are 2,116 structures on the river bed and another 7,850 in the buffer zone.

The Municipal administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary Dana Kishore, who is also the Managing Director of the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, said that the government has prepared an action plan to clear the constructions that came up along the river course.

“We will ensure rehabilitation of the evacuees of the Musi riverfront in double-bedroom houses. The government has allotted nearly 16,000 double-bedroom houses in different parts of the city to provide accommodation for the people who will be evacuated from the dwellings along the river,” Kishore said.

Those living in the buffer zone will receive compensation for their structures in accordance with the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.

Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset protection Agency (HYDRAA) is gearing up to demolish the illegal structures.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on September 24 discussed with officials the modalities for carrying out demolition of structures along the Musi river and rehabilitating the people from there.

He announced the allocation of 16,000 double-bedroom homes for such families.

A brainchild of CM Reddy, the Musi Riverfront Development Project is aimed to conserve the river, promote tourism and prevent flooding.

The world-class project is proposed to be taken up on a public private partnership basis. The government claimed many private players are evincing keen interest in the project.

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has questioned the need for the project. It questioned the ‘dramatic’ increase in the cost of the project.

According to BRS Working President K.T. Rama Rao, it was initially estimated at Rs 50,000 crore. The project's cost was later revised to Rs 70,000 crore, and now it is a staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crore, he said.

The former minister claimed that the erstwhile BRS government had already completed 100 per cent sewerage treatment at a cost of Rs. 3,866 crore and planned the rejuvenation, beautification, and development of the Musi River at an estimated cost of Rs 16,634 crore. This includes an expressway from ORR West (Manchirevula) to ORR East (Pratapa Singaram).

He questioned the significant increase in project costs, raising doubts about the current government's calculations and intentions.