Musi Riverfront Phase I: Land Acquisition Enters Award-Enquiry Stage In Rajendranagar; February 11 Set As Eligibility Cut-Off

Land acquisition proceedings for Phase I of the Musi Riverfront Development Project have reached the award-enquiry stage in two villages under the Rajendranagar revenue division, while objections are being processed in three others. Revenue officials said negotiations were underway with project oustees before compensation awards could be passed. Meanwhile, an MRDCL notice has specified February 11, 2026, as the compensation eligibility cut-off, covering tenants, vendors, employees and households without property titles.

Rajendranagar revenue divisional officer K. Venkat Reddy said preliminary and final acquisition notifications had been issued for two of the five villages under his jurisdiction. Objections had been disposed of and award enquiries completed. Negotiations were now in progress before the awards could be passed.

Hearings on objections had also been conducted in the remaining villages. Officials were obtaining remarks from the department concerned before disposing of them, he said.

Reddy clarified that the acquisition proceedings currently handled by his office did not involve complete displacement of residents, although the Madhu Park Ridge matter remained under process.

"We have not received any request," he said about acquisition in the wider river buffer area. He added that he had not been designated as the land acquisition officer for that area.

The Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL), in a notice available on its website, said the February 11 cut-off would apply to licensed and unlicensed vendors, formal and informal tenants, registered and unregistered employees, and households with or without land titles. People who settled in the affected areas after that date would not qualify for compensation but would receive advance notice to vacate.

The notice does not specify how people without formal documents can establish eligibility or what assistance each category will receive.

Varghese Theckanath, convener of the Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights, questioned the acquisition process. "People have not been taken into confidence," he said. Theckanath claimed that not all affected families had received notices and that the full project report had not been made public. "There is no one who is against cleaning up the river," he said, calling for discussions with affected families and minimum displacement.

Syed Bilal, vice-president of the Human Rights Forum's Hyderabad city committee, questioned whether tenants and vendors had been properly surveyed. "Even if the government fixes a price, nobody wants to leave their home," Bilal said, expressing concern about relocation. Both Bilal and Theckanath have been part of the Musi movement along with affected residents.