KTR smells a rat in Musi makeover cost escalation

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao raised concerns on Sunday about the proposed Musi River beautification project by the State government, highlighting a ‘dramatic increase’ in project costs.

The BRS leader said that initially estimated at Rs 50,000 crore, the project's cost was later revised to Rs 70,000 crore, and now, a staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crore has been proposed.

He said that the erstwhile Telangana 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.

While Congress criticised the Kaleshwaram Project, which transformed the fortunes of Telangana's farmers and was completed at a cost of Rs 80,000 crore, the proposed expenditure for the Musi River beautification, amounting to Rs 1.5 lakh crore, has sparked debates and skepticism across the State. He posed key questions that remain unanswered by the government: How many farmers will benefit from the Musi project? What was the storage capacity in TMCs, how many acres will come under irrigation, what will be the increase in crop yield, what industrial needs will be met, and how many new large reservoirs will be constructed?

KTR questioned Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's preference for the Musi project over the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project, which is in its final stages.