A shot in arm for TG govt as HC greenlights Musi project

Hyderabad: Following the clearance of the legal hurdles to the Musi Rejuvenation Project, the State authorities began the exercise to expedite the project.

The Telangana High Court gave directions to the State government to take up the Musi project and also preserve the water resources in the city after hearing 46 petitions filed challenging the demolition of houses and removal of encroachments as part of the Musi Revival Project.

Officials said that the State government empowered the officials to issue notices to the illegal occupants of the water bodies, lakes, and ponds in the city. In 1908, when the Musi River flooded Hyderabad, the then Nizam ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan built Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar to provide protection to those near Musi in the future and built protective walls.

The officials explained that the Nizam rule had also enforced an Act (Act 8 of 1317) declaring all public roads, bridges, sewers, rivers, hillocks, watercourses, ponds, ditches, canals, and all kinds of watercourses as property of the government. According to Act 8 of 1317, the then government surveyed and prepared maps of all the villages with bullock cart paths, footpaths, trees, wells, rivers, houses, ponds, and other details. Despite the existence of the 1317 Fasli Act 8, some ponds, lakes, river beds, and other water resources were converted into plots and sold to private individuals. Various religious structures were constructed in the middle of the river.

According to the Hyderabad Irrigation Act, the construction, management, and control of all reservoirs, ponds, tanks, dams, canals, their distributaries, and sluices shall be under the auspices of the government. Any construction or work within the scope of the above should be done only after obtaining the permission of the irrigation officer appointed by the government.

The State government can issue notices to remove illegal structures in the buffer zone, Full Tank Level (FTL) and river bed zone of the Musi River. After that, all of them should be removed. The government will also conduct a survey on those affected by the Musi revival.

As per the State government regulations, the affected residents should be provided housing. If there are patta and sikham pattas, the authorities should give them notices, acquire that land, and pay them compensation as per the law.