By A Representative
The Musi Jan Andolan (MJA), an independent, non-partisan platform dedicated to protecting the River Musi and the communities along its banks, has issued a comprehensive preliminary response to the government's unveiling of plans for the Musi Riverfront Development Project, following a detailed meeting with senior cabinet ministers. The response sharply criticizes the proposed initiative as ecologically unsound and socially disruptive while questioning the government's financial disclosures and the true scale of displacement involved.
The development comes two days after a 12-member delegation of the MJA met with Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu and other cabinet ministers at Praja Bhavan in Hyderabad. The over two-and-a-half-hour meeting, attended by ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Vakiti Srihari, and Adluri Laxman, saw activists urge the government to suspend the unveiling of Phase-1 detailed plans and release the full Detailed Project Report in English, Telugu, and Urdu, along with river boundary and buffer zone maps. The delegation demanded that stakeholders be given at least 60 days to submit suggestions and objections, arguing that genuine river rejuvenation could be achieved without displacing residents.
During the meeting, the MJA also sought the withdrawal of Government Order G.O.Rt.No.921 issued in December 2025, which identified 10,017 structures and 3,279 acres of land for acquisition. The delegation pointed out that the order exempted the project from social impact assessment under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Act by invoking Section 10A, a provision introduced through a state amendment in 2017, and urged the government to repeal the amendment and follow consultative procedures. The activists further questioned claims that the Asian Development Bank had agreed to fund the project with ₹4,100 crore, citing official communications from the bank dated January and March 2026 indicating that no loan approval had been granted.
Responding to these concerns, the Deputy Chief Minister and Information Technology Minister Sridhar Babu assured the delegation that the government's primary objective was river rejuvenation and that there would be no forcible or non-consensual evictions. Bhatti Vikramarka clarified that the subsequent event at a Hyderabad hotel, where Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was to outline the project, was not the formal release of the DPR but a presentation describing the initiative's objectives and scope, which would be made available online for public suggestions.
Despite these assurances, the MJA maintained its principled stand to not participate in-person at the unveiling ceremony, citing what it described as a "severe democratic deficit." However, the movement keenly observed the proceedings digitally to understand the government's vision, and its preliminary response raises significant objections to the approach presented.
The MJA stated that while the government claims river rejuvenation as its key objective, the proposed plans fundamentally contradict basic principles of hydrology, ecology, and sustainable river management. The organization took particular issue with the presentation by the Managing Director of the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited, who took pride in showcasing visuals of London, Paris, Singapore, and Korea. The Andolan warned that those cities spent decades cleaning their rivers before adding public amenities, and constructing parks and walkways without first addressing pollution would leave the Musi contaminated, achieving only superficial results.
The MJA's critique extended to several core technical aspects of the project. It challenged the proposed method of pumping water from other rivers to maintain flow, labeling it costly, energy-intensive, and unsustainable, which would effectively turn a living river into a canal. The group also cautioned against concrete embankments, arguing they would exacerbate flood risks by narrowing the channel and eliminating natural floodplains, contrary to modern best practices that favor wetlands and retention areas.
A significant point of contention raised by the MJA was the apparent discrepancy in the project's cost and the scale of displacement. The organization noted that the MRDCL's presentation cited a tentative development cost of ₹6,500 to ₹7,000 crore for Phase 1, excluding land acquisition, which is considerably higher than the ₹5,641 crore estimate submitted by the same corporation to the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority. Furthermore, the MJA directly contradicted the Chief Minister's assertion that only around 10,000 families reside on the riverbanks, highlighting that the MRDCL's own submission to the SEIAA for Phase 1 alone identifies 12,204 families for displacement. The Andolan questioned whether such large-scale displacement is truly inevitable and in the public interest.
The response also highlighted a perceived gap in the government's strategy for tackling industrial pollution. While the Chief Minister acknowledged the severe impact of industrial effluents on communities in Nalgonda, the MJA observed that the presented plans focused heavily on Sewage Treatment Plants, which are ineffective against toxic chemical pollutants that require dedicated Effluent Treatment Plants. The MD, MRDCL repeatedly stressed that STPs would ensure a clean river, overlooking the critical distinction between municipal and industrial waste.
The MJA further criticized the government's characterization of recent floods, arguing that blaming heavy rains alone ignored the lack of early warning systems and potential lapses in dam safety management as outlined in the Dam Safety Act, 2021. The group also seized on what it termed a contradiction in the Chief Minister's address, who juxtaposed concerns over the city's groundwater crisis with the need to supply water to global data centers through the Musi project, suggesting the initiative may be geared towards serving corporate interests rather than public welfare.
The organization expressed bewilderment at the invocation of secularism to justify massive infrastructure, stating that displacement and imprudent financial investment should not be the price for symbolic gestures. It also took strong exception to the project being linked to Gandhi's vision, arguing that Gandhi's principles of simplicity and people's rule are at odds with the proposed lavish infrastructure, including the planned Gandhi Sarovar, which would come at huge social and ecological costs.
Soon after the March 12 meeting, the group alleged that one of its activists, Syed Bilal, was detained at his residence by police personnel. The movement condemned the action as arbitrary and undemocratic, particularly coming a day after holding dialogue with the government, and called for the removal of restrictions on his movement.
The Musi Jan Andolan concluded by reiterating its call for a comprehensive review of the proposed project, including a thorough analysis of its social, ecological, and financial costs and benefits. The movement reaffirmed its commitment to constructive dialogue and peaceful democratic struggle in the true interest of the River Musi and the communities that depend on it, both upstream and downstream, while calling upon other political parties to shun opportunism and raise substantive issues.
Comments