HYDERABAD: The State government will make all efforts to see that water flowing into Musi is free from pollution, announced MAUD Minister KT Rama Rao, on Thursday.
During the Question Hour in the Assembly, Rama Rao said the government is going to adopt a multi-pronged strategy for rejuvenation, beautification and development of Musi river under the Musi Riverfront Development Project at an estimated cost of Rs 16,634 crore.
As many as 10,000 encroachments have come alongside the Musi mostly on Malakpet, Chaderghat and Amberpet stretches and steps will be taken to rehabilitate the squatters, he informed. The State Government is committed to rejuvenating the polluted Musi, he added.
Interlinking initiative
The Minister said Rs 9,000 crore was proposed for the East-West elevated corridor along the River Musi. The State government was taking up Godavari river linking from Kondapochamma to Osmansagar (Gandipet) at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore. The government has proposed to interlink Kondapochamma and Osmansagar reservoirs so that Gandipet remains full, he added.
Currently, the water being supplied to Hyderabad is from Yellampally (Godavari) and Akkampally (Krishna). However, if the water is also supplied through the Kondapochamma reservoir, which is close to Hyderabad, when heavy rains occur, excess clean water will flow into Musi.
Treating sewage water
There are 54 major nalas in the GHMC limits and 94 per cent of sewage water flows into Musi. “We would treat the sewage that flows into the river during the beautification project and it would be a long-term solution, but in the downstream, the river is heavily polluted. To address this, we will set up STPs, where 100 per cent of the sewage is treated,” said Rama Rao.
The Minister said that no other city in India treats more sewage water than Hyderabad. The government has been using all technology available to them to keep an eye on the Musi’s levels of encroachment, buffer levels and flood limits, among other things.