HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday said that the government will not let anyone displaced by the Musi project become orphans.
“The Congress government will protect every single displaced person. It is ready to spend Rs 10,000 crore for their rehabilitation,” he declared.
Addressing the gathering at the 95th birth anniversary celebrations of former Union minister G Venkataswamy here, the chief minister appealed to the people living in the Musi catchment areas not to be swayed by the provocative statements of the opposition. “We are going ahead with a clear policy and the opposition leaders are raising the issue of displaced people only to protect their farmhouses from demolitions,” he alleged.
The government will take the responsibility of making alternative arrangements for the Musi evictees, the chief minister noted and added: “If the people are living in a highly polluted environment, it means that they are extremely poor. Even those who are living in the buffer zone are also poor. The government will extend all support and assistance to them.”
Hinting that the government will construct Indiramma houses for the displaced families, the CM said: “If necessary, the Race Course located on 150–200 acres and Amberpet Police Academy standing on 200 acres will be shifted out and allocated for the construction of Indiramma houses for the families to be displaced by the Musi Riverfront Development Project. We will constitute a committee to work out a rehabilitation plan. We will include BRS leaders T Harish Rao, KT Rama Rao and BJP MP Eatala Rajender in the panel. Let them come forward and discuss the issue.” He invited them to come to the Secretariat and give suggestions to the government.
Ponnam Prabhakar told to consult key leaders on Musi project
The CM also instructed minister Ponnam Prabhakar to consult important leaders on the rehabilitation plan.
He alleged that BRS leaders were using Musi residents as a shield to protect their farmhouses and other properties. “Tell me what should we do for these poor people? Should we give them house sites or money or land pattas? Give me suggestions. Let us pass a resolution in the Assembly. If lakes and the Musi river are full of encroachments, where will the water go? The water will bulldoze and wipe out the city,” he asserted.
Training his guns at the BRS, he said: “The party has Rs 1,500 crore which it looted from the people. Let it give Rs 500 crore to the poor. KCR’s Gajwel farmhouse is spread across 1,000 acres. Let him donate 500 acres for rehabilitation of the Musi victims. KTR has a farmhouse in Janwada on 50 acres. Let him donate 25 acres. We will build Indiramma houses on that land.”
He said that BJP MP Eatala Rajender praised the Sabarmati riverfront project in Gujarat, but is opposing the Musi scheme. “The Sabarmati project displaced 64,000 families. The BJP government in Gujarat did not pay compensation to 16,000 families,” he said.
Taking potshots at the BRS, he said that some people are daydreaming that they will come to power using social media. “They will in fact go to the Cherlapally prison,” he added.
Revanth announced that the government will construct a project at Tummidihatti as per the original design of the Pranahita-Chevella project.
Accusing the BRS leaders of looting Rs 1 lakh crore in the name of Kaleshwaram project, he said: “Even after spending so much money, the Kaleshwaram project collapsed. Had the BRS been in power now, it would have given the repairing contract to the same contractor and looted another Rs 10,000 crore.”
Kaka stood by poor: CM Revanth Reddy
He noted that G Venkataswamy, popularly known as “Kaka”, played a crucial role in national politics. He said: “The leaders (BRS leaders) who took Kaka’s help to win the elections in 2004 are boasting that they came up in politics by their own strength. After coming to power, the BRS rulers neglected Kaka’s birth anniversary.”
He said that Kaka was a man of the poor and always stood by them. The senior leader provided housing to 80,000 people and also saved the Singareni organisation by supporting workers, he added. “People called Venkataswamy, Kaka, with great affection like they called Nehru, Chacha. Venkataswamy gave his house for the Congress party office. We have a responsibility to take forward Kaka’s aspirations,” Revanth said.