HYDERABAD: Raising an alarm over increasing hazardous materials in Musi river, Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy on Tuesday stated that he would launch an agitation, if the opposition BRS obstructs Musi River Front Development project.
He said that the BRS leaders KTR and Harish Rao lack humanity. He challenged the BRS leaders to a public hearing on the Musi rejuvenation project.
Addressing a press conference here, Venkat Reddy said that a recent study found that the turbidity levels of Musi were recorded as 15 at Damaracherla of Nalgonda district against the normal levels of 1 to 4. Biological oxygen demand levels ideally should be less than three per cent, but they were 10 per cent at Valigonda, and the levels of Coliform bacteria was 2,200.
“Why should the people of Nalgonda live in such dire conditions? To address this, the Telangana government has undertaken the project of cleansing Musi. It is not a project meant for beautification of Musi, but protecting people from pollution,” he said.
He claimed that he had been fighting against the problem of fluoride for the last two decades and urged the Union ministers to release funds for Musi rejuvenation.
He said that while the World Health Organisation suggested using only surface stream water in the Nalgonda region due to excessive fluoride content, the BRS government failed to implement this suggestion.
He said that a recent Union government’s survey has stated that fluoride levels continue in the Nalgonda region even to this day.
Lashing out at BRS, Venkat Reddy said that the BRS party was running a “garage of betrayal” in the name of ‘Janatha Garage’. He demanded former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to clear the latter’s party stand on Musi in the Legislative Assembly.