Musi riverfront body to raise 1.5K cr for development

​Hyderabad: The first board meeting of the newly-constituted Musi Riverfront Development Corporation on Friday approved raising Rs 1,500 crore for the project.

Speaking on the occasion, Municipal Administration Secretary Navin Mittal said the project would be taken up in three phases and under the first phase, river reach from Osmansagar to Golnaka covering a length of 33km will be taken up.

Apart from that, Riverfront development and river conservation are also proposed under the project. Under riverfront development, river cleaning, bank stabilisation, river walkway, Musi Nature Grove, bridges, rowing course and water pools are proposed.

Sewer Mains, Sluice gate at each Nala outlet, 30 MLD sewage treatment plant (STP) at Hydershahkote, 6 MLD STP at Miralam and 70 MLD STP at Attapur have been proposed under river conservation, he added. Some 72 checkdams have been proposed, he said, adding that parking facilities were provided at 15 places under the project.

Mittal said Rs 500 crore was allocated for Musi riverfront development in this year’s budget. The government has also agreed to extend the government guarantee to an amount of Rs 1,500 crore for raising loans. Negotiations with the banks have been initiated and some banks have agreed in principle to extend credit, he added.

The Green Climate Fund and funds from the National River Conservation Directorate would also be sourced, if necessary, he added.

Explaining the objectives of the project, Mittal said the project aims to take up riverfront development and conservation to develop riverfront as a dynamic and vibrant city level recreational and socio-cultural centre and also as a tourist destination.

It also aims to create new city level green spaces along the river to enhance the riverfront to act as green lungs of the city. It will ensure that the water is maintained throughout the year and will divert dry weather flows of nalas to reduce pollution in river water.

Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Chairman Prem Singh Rathod, Finance Secretary Sandeep Kumar Sulthania, HMDA Commissioner Chiranjeevulu, GHMC Commissioner B Janardhan Reddy, TSTDC Managing Director Christina Zongthu and other officials were present.