Telangana CM vows to undertake Musi river revival project

Hyderabad, Nov 8 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday celebrated his birthday with Musi River Rejuvenation padayatra and vowed to take up the project despite all hurdles being created by the opposition. 

Accompanied by some of his Cabinet colleagues and several Congress leaders and supporters, the Chief Minister undertook the padayatra in Nalgonda district to highlight the effects of pollution in Musi on people’s lives and the need to rejuvenate the river.

He walked along the river bank for 2.5 km from Sangem village and return to Bhimalingam and declared that the project would be given final shape in 30 days.

Revanth Reddy interacted with farmers and other villagers during the padayatra, which aimed at mobilising people's support for his dream project – Musi Riverfront Development.

As the opposition parties have been targeting him for trying to displace people living along Musi and accusing him of eyeing the lands around the river, the Chief Minister attempted to counter them by highlighting the ill-effects of the river's pollution on people’s health and fertile land.

Addressing a meeting at the end of his padayatra, he said with darshan of 'Shivaiah' at Sangam, he has taken a pledge to revive Musi.

Slamming the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders for their threatening to stop bulldozers, he dared them to attempt saying he enjoys the support of people.

Revanth Reddy alleged that BRS leaders only looted people and have not done anything good for them. “That’s why they are trying to stall the rejuvenation of Musi,” he said and thanked Communist parties for supporting the government’s efforts to revive the river.

Lashing out at BJP leaders, the Chief Minister asked, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi can develop Gujarat but can’t we revive Musi?”

The Chief Minister said that Musi, which was once supplying drinking water, had now turned into a drain spewing poison. He said people who were suffering were asking if rulers were angry with them or if it was God's wrath. People are demanding that Musi should be revived.

Revanth Reddy said the pollution in the river has endangered the livelihood of people along the river. Even fish are not surviving in the surrounding lakes while the crops grown here are not fit for consumption. People have to think even for drinking the cattle milk.

He said that people who should have lived happily with dairy farming are forced to sell away their lands.

The Chief Minister said that because of Musi's pollution, the people were facing a bigger danger than the nuclear bomb.

He remarked that the padayatra is only a trailer while the actual cinema is yet to begin

Revanth Reddy announced that another padayatra will be undertaken in the first week of January 2025 from Vadapalli to Hyderabad

Before embarking on the padayatra, the Chief Minister offered prayers at Sangam.

He hugged the Bheema Lingam in Sangam and symbolically tried to lift it. After this gesture, Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy hailed him as the “Baahubali of Telangana,” who has taken up the daunting task of reviving Musi.