Hyderabad: Ropeway bridge on Musi to get delayed further

Hyderabad: A year ago, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao announced that the Old City of Hyderabad would be turned into another Istanbul-like city and it would happen in a phased manner besides assuring a ropeway bridge on the Musi river. Though more than a year passed, there has been no progress on proposed plans to construct the ropeway.

According to sources, the Hyderabad Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (HUMTA) is yet to prepare a draft techno-feasibility study and Detail Project Reports (DPRs) for ropeways. A ropeway along Musi River from Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station to Zoo Park of 5.5 km was planned.

The CM, during the winter session of Assembly in October, said that the ropeway bridge project would be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 336 crore.

In July 2020, amid the lockdown, a few patches on banks of Musi river were developed by spending about Rs 9 crore. But still, the key element of Musi rejuvenation and beautification project remained on paper. Similarly, till now, the sewerage treatment plants (STPs) have not been built. These STPs were planned to arrest the stench emanating from the river Musi. Neither bunds were strengthened, nor the encroachments were removed. These bunds were washed away in flash floods of October 2021 and also in July-August last year.

The Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) officials said that the State government has asked them not to go ahead with the Musi project until further instructions. According to an MRDCL official, the State government has directed the Corporation not to proceed with the project until a DPR is prepared.

However, the official was not able to divulge anything about the time for preparation of DRP.