Eat and sleep near Musi, Chief Minister challenges the Opposition-OxBig News Network

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and officials at the inauguration of HYDRAA police station near Buddha Bhavan, in Hyderabad, on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: G RAMAKRISHNA

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy compared the Musi river development with the development of Sabarmati, Ganga and Yamuna rivers, and sought to know why the BJP is opposing the project.

“If Modi does it, it’s acceptable, but when we attempt, is it to be criticised?” he questioned during his address after inauguration of Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) police station on Thursday.

Mr. Reddy said an ‘Aatmeeya Sammelanam’ will be organised with the people living on the FTL and buffer zones of Musi river, with participation of Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, MP Anil Kumar Yadav, and others, in order to explain the plans of the government. The poor people displaced from their homes will be shown alternative plots, he assured.

“If need be, we will identify government lands closer to the locality and build cluster housing to accommodate them,” he vowed, while lambasting the opposition for calling the government anti-poor. He challenged them to eat and sleep near the Musi river to show that the place is liveable.

“Jubilee Hills, Banjara HIlls, and farm houses at Janwada and Erravelli are where you stay, but expect the poor to stay near Musi river,” he said, accusing the opposition of being full of poison.

Invoking the status of the other metropolitan cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which have been rendered unliveable due to pollution and floods, he said Hyderabad too would be added to them if proper measures are not taken to prevent the destruction of nature.

The same people who said HYDRAA caused real estate slump are now opposing the development of 400 acre land parcel as IT park, citing biodiversity. Their only aim is to hinder progress, he said.

“I brought ₹2.28 lakh crore investments from Davos. Aren’t we obligated to show the investors land? Many people are set to benefit from the investments, directly and indirectly,” he said.

Only people who are encroaching the lakes have a complaint against HYDRAA, and not the people who are facing inundation of homes, and those spending hours on roads due to traffic jams. Condemning HYDRAA’s portrayal as an agency that demolishes poor people’s homes, Mr. Reddy said the agency is serving 1.2 crore population living within the Outer Ring Road, where lakes and drains have been severely encroached and erased.

Recalling the ₹10,000 each distributed to people who suffered flooding in 2020, he questioned if the amount compensated the losses endured by them.

Mr. Reddy advised HYDRAA chief A.V. Ranganath to assume humanitarian approach towards poor people, and stringency towards the rich violators.

“This is a huge responsibility. Casual approach will not help. Please adopt humane approach. Please bring proposals for rehabilitation of the poor,” he said.

The Chief Minister also launched the website of HYDRAA, and flagged off the new fleet of vehicles procured by the agency.

The HYDRAA police station is accommodated in three floors and 10,000 square feet. Six inspectors are deployed to the station, besides a station house officer, and several sub-inspectors and constables, Mr. Ranganath said.