Musi project to be in PPP mode, says CM Revanth

Musi River Front Development project in Telangana to be executed through public-private partnership for sustainable revenue generation.

The Musi River Front Development project will be taken up entirely in the public-private partnership mode, as the government is not in a position to foot the expenditure, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has categorically stated.

In an exclusive interaction with the media team that returned from the officially-sponsored tour of Seoul city in South Korea, Mr. Revanth Reddy asserted that revenue generation model alone is successful and sustainable, and that the Musi River project is poised to be the “next level of revenue generation for the capital city which is the economic engine for the state of Telangana”.

In the first phase of the project, 20.5 kilometre length along two streams beyond Bapughat till the twin reservoirs will be taken up for development, he said. The two streams are from Osmansagar (Musa) with 11 kilometres, and Himayatsagar (Esi) with 9.5 kilometres.

Bapughat, which houses the mortal remains of Mahatma Gandhi, will be developed as a ‘vegetarian and eco-friendly’ destination, complete with installation of the tallest Gandhi statue and launch of a Gandhi Ideology Centre there.

The government is targeting 1 lakh tourist footfalls in the circuit, through development of world class educational, entertainment, and health facilities. A giant wheel along the lines of London Eye, a nature cure hospital, off campus colleges of world renowned universities and educational institutions, and eco-friendly theme parks are a few concepts shared for the development.

Starting from the Qutb Shahi Tombs up to Langar Houz, the entire stretch will be developed as tourist destination. There are also plans to develop street markets which would run 24x7 in two cycles of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. Tenders will be floated in the first week of November for channelising Godavari river water from Mallannasagar up to Osmansagar, and from Osmansagar, a canal will be dug into the Himayatsagar, so that the water could enter Musi river from both the reservoirs.

A check-dam barrage-cum-bridge will be constructed at Bapughat, from where purified water will be released downstream of the river. The CM said drawings for Phase-I will be ready in 45 days.