Musi River revival gets Centre’s backing

Hyderabad: The Union Urban Development Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday expressed a firm commitment to the long-pending demand for the rejuvenation of the Musi River.

Minister Khattar said that a comprehensive plan for this project, with funding from the Central Government, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and other agencies, was ready. The Union Minister said that the first phase would commence soon, focusing not only on riverfront development but also, most importantly, on treating sewage before releasing it into the river, thus revitalising the Musi River.

There would be testing laboratories which would be monitoring the water in the river regularly. This shift is not limited to projects alone, but also reflects a shift in governance thinking, where the Centre is now prioritising urban issues such as PMAY and water supply.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had requested the Centre for assistance in Hyderabad's development and also requested immediate approval for projects such as the Metro Rail expansion, Musi rejuvenation, and the Regional Ring Road. He said that Telangana aims to contribute 10 per cent to India's economy by 2047. “Our competition is not with other states, but with cities like Tokyo, Singapore, and New York. To achieve this, the ‘Bharat Future City’ project will be a game-changer for India,” said Revanth Reddy. The "Telangana Rising 2047" vision document, to be released on December 9, 2025, sets a target of a $1 trillion economy by 2034 and a $3 trillion economy by 2047.

Khattar said that the Union Government had formed a Metro Policy, and as per this, a joint venture was formed with 50-50 sharing by the partners. The Joint Ventures will be formed with the cities which are ready for 50-50 sharing. There was L&T and the government which was running the Metro here, and now the Metro would be run by the state and the Centre with a public-private partnership (PPP) model. Replying to a question, the Union Minister said that Amravati is going to be a big city in Andhra Pradesh. Today’s conference was for the existing cities and how development should be taken up.