More Public Consultations on Cards for Musi Project: Govt

Hyderabad: The government on Monday informed the Assembly that it had before it a proposal to conduct “more grama sabhas before taking up the work” of the Musi rejuvenation project, adding that these would be in addition to similar meetings it already conducted “where the project modalities have been explained to public,”

In a written reply to a question on the project, the government said an initial social impact assessment has been carried out, and detailed enumeration of affected households was in progress. It said that for Phase-I of the project from Himayatsagar to Bapu Ghat costing Rs.6,500 crore to Rs.7,000 crore, may affect 1,435 structures.

“For other zones, cost estimates and enumeration of structures including Medchal-Malkajgiri district is under preparation. A detailed project report has been prepared for Phase-I and it was under appraisal by the Asiand Development Bank,” the government said.

To the question if alternate lower cost and less displacement models were examined, the government said this was done “based on detailed hydrological studies.” The present model had been “finalised as the most technically suitable, with development limited to 50 metres of buffer on either side of the river boundary.”

Any public concerns, the government reiterated, were being “addressed through awareness measures and proposed grama sabhas to present the factual position.”