Hyderabad: After visiting the Sabarmati riverfront in Ahmedabad, officials of the Musi River Development Corporation have come to the conclusion that a similar programme cannot be taken up for the Musi facelift. The officials cited the difference in the gradients of the two rivers as the reason.
While the Sabarmati is largely flat, the Musi river has a steep gradient, which causes the water to flow with much greater force. Therefore, unlike the Sabarmati river, dams cannot be constructed on the Musi river, they said.
A technical committee would soon finalise designs after taking into consideration the presentation made by the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation officials along with the layout options presented by the nine international firms for the Musi project. They further hinted that the project might suffer a delay for designs are yet to be confirmed and because the budget is yet to be prepared.
The Hyderabad High Court on April 9 had asked the state government to look into the Sabarmati and Bhadra river development projects to revive the Musi.
“If the Sabarmati and Bhadra rivers could be revived, so can the Musi,” the bench concluded.
Following this, officials from the MRDC, GHMC, Hyderabad Water Supply and Sewerage Board and the irrigation department embarked on a study tour last week only to return with the assessment. An official said the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation (SRDC) had constructed a 10-metre dam across its 382-metre width of the river.
The gradient is the drop of the stream per unit distance and can be calculated by dividing the change in height from one point to the next by the distance between the two points. Consequently, a steep gradient can cause water to flow much faster while a flat gradient allows the water to flow slowly and is capable of transporting fine sediments across a short distance only.
A senior MRDC official explained that their primary conclusion after visiting Ahmedabad was that the Sabarmati model could not be incorporated into the Musi facelift programme. The official said that owing to its force, 10-metre barriers could not be constructed across the Musi river. Additionally, that constructing 10-metre barriers could aggravate the issue further owing to the amount of debris that has been dumped into the Musi river.
“We shall notify the state government and the technical committee about the issue. A meeting will be held to scrutinise the designs submitted by the nine international firms who participated in the design contest last year. Once we’re done finalising the designs, the government will prepare a budget for the project, and its details will be declared to the public after May 23,” he said.
The official hinted that different designs would be implemented through the various stretches of the river.
