HYDERABAD:The Forum for Good Governance has asked the state government to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to monitor Musi beautification project. Alleging misappropriation of funds in the first phase of the project, it has demanded a government inquiry and complete auditing of the accounts.
The estimated cost of the first-phase project was Rs 344 crore, of which 70 per cent was funded by the central government under the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD) scheme and 30 per cent by the state government.
M Padmanabha Reddy, secretary of the forum, has said, “Whatever the government did in the first phase of beautification was a mere waste of money and time. The interception and diversion (ID) work and sewage treatment plants (STP) of the Musi project never succeeded. The government should follow the example of the Sabarmati project in Gujarat and set up a special purpose vehicle.”
Justice Reddappa Reddy, president of the forum, has said, “Apart from setting up a new corporation, there should be a government inquiry and complete auditing of accounts to find out where the money has gone. Also, in the coming budget, the GHMC needs to allocate some money for the beautification of Musi.”
The forum has also said that the GHMC should take up maintenance of the existing assets. Rao Chelikani, vice-president of the forum, said an RTI query has revealed that as against the sanctioned amount of Rs 344 crore, an amount of Rs 405.31 crore was spent in the first phase. With the failure of the first phase, the central government directed the state government in 2009 to design a holistic and implementable project.
Musi Phase-II project, costing Rs 750 crore, was prepared in 2011.