Telangana CM speaks on flak against him on social media; says Musi project is to boost Hyderabad’s image

Asserting that the Telangana Government is prepared to take necessary steps to effectively rehabilitate the people affected by the Musi Rejuvenation project, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has refuted criticism that the Government is promoting real estate business for vested interests in the name of the project.

“I drew a lot of flak on social media with allegations of promoting real estate business. But the project has been taken up to further give a boost to the global city image of Hyderabad. Real estate development will have a cascading effect on the city’s development boosting businesses and in turn, lead to employment generation,” he said.

He recalled how the foundation stone laid by United AP Chief Minister N. Janardhan Reddy for the Hitec city resulted in the mushrooming growth of the area, leading to the formation of a separate city ‘Cyberabad’. “Of the 3.74 crore Telangana population, 1.4 crore — one third — live within the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Urbanisation is set to increase, and development should catch pace with it,” he said.

The Chief Minister criticised the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samiti for spewing venom on the projects taken up by the Government, claiming that their opposition to the projects is evident. “The look in their (BRS MLAs) eyes does not conceal their intent against development of the State,” he said adding, “they have more poison in their eyes than pollution in the Musi river”.

He was responding to BRS member T. Harish Rao’s claim that his party would oppose any project with a negative impact on the lives of the poor. “The BRS will stand in front of bulldozers if the Government intends to pull down the houses of poor in the name of the project,” Mr. Harish Rao said.

Explaining the highlights of the ambitious project, Mr. Revanth Reddy said the Government was committed to providing maximum compensation to the affected families and was prepared to construct schools, health centres and other amenities for the rehabilitated families. Development projects would result in the displacement of a section of people and the Government was committed to providing necessary facilities to improve their living standards. “We are not in favour of approving projects in the lure of commissions. Award of contracts for commissions was the hallmark of the BRS Government,” he said.

The Government was working in close coordination with the Central Government to secure maximum assistance for the all-round development of the State and “not for wriggling out of cases”. “They (the BRS leaders) don’t have the moral right to criticise me,” he averred, recalling how the previous Government neglected the Musi Riverfront Development project and made a Congress MLA, who switched loyalties, as chairman of the Musi Development Corporation.