Telangana Government River Development: Rs 1500 Crore Allocation for Musi River Beautification Project
In the budget for 2024–2025, the Telangana government has suggested allocating Rs. 1,500 crores for the Musi riverfront development project.
image for illustrative purpose
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka unveiled the Telangana government's budget 2024–25 proposal, which includes a Rs. 1,500 crore allocation for the Musi riverfront development project, in the state Assembly on Thursday.
Vikramarka said in his budget speech that the project aims to improve 110 km of urban area in and around Hyderabad and is proposed to revitalise the eco system around the Musi River.
"Recreation zones, people's plazas, children’s theme parks, and entertainment zones will be developed as part of the project," he stated, highlighting the main objectives of the project, which include creating an economic zone, raising living standards, safeguarding heritage and culture, enhancing the city’s reputation, and improving infrastructure, among other things.
He added that the state government has already conducted a socioeconomic survey with 33 teams from the revenue department in pursuit of those goals.
"Musi will be developed along the same lines as London's Thames Riverfront Project." This project will mark a significant turning point in Hyderabad's history, and its model can be replicated all over the nation, he continued.
It is important to note that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Jal Shakti Minister Chandrakant Raghunath Patil in Delhi prior to the union budget, wherein he and a group of ministers requested that the Centre set aside Rs 10,000 crore for riverfront development and Musi rejuvenation. The Centre hasn't specifically included any funding for the same, though.
Revanth Reddy recently declared that the state government would invest Rs 1.5 lakh crore over the next five years in the revitalisation of Musi and riverfront development projects. The working president of the BRS, KT Rama Rao, had questioned how the project's cost, which had been projected to be Rs 50,000 crore during the BRS government, had suddenly increased to Rs 1.5 lakh crore. The previous state government had projected to set aside Rs 200 crore for the development of the Musi riverfront in last year's budget, but that amount was later reduced to Rs 50 crore.
