Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad   

Musi project makes little headway

By K.V.S. Madhav

HYDERABAD, JUNE 8. The ambitious Musi River Conservation Project got the Central Government nod under the National River Action Plan of the Ministry of Environment and Forests one full year back. But, the Rs. 344 crore project is yet to be grounded thanks to the delay in the first tranche of the loan.

While the project was cleared in June 2002 and administrative sanction given almost a year later in April 2003, it failed to make any headway till February this year. HMWSSB officials had maintained that the first instalment of the project outlay was expected by February-end and work would be started immediately. Three months have passed by, but there seems to be no sign of the funds flowing in.

"The elections slowed down the cash flow and the pace of the project. Otherwise, it would taken off by now," explained an official of the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

The Board had requested the Centre to release Rs. 25 crore as first instalment to put the project into motion. Land acquisition and finalising the bids were to be the major components of this phase. "We have to deposit money with the Collectors of Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad for certain chunks of land besides making bids for men and material for the work to actually begin," he said. The Musi river, a tributary of Krishna, has turned into a sea of sewage in the city. Excess untreated sewage finds its way to it from the vast drainage area of the city and the 10 municipalities surrounding it, through various stormwater drains. According to the HMWSSB studies, the BOD concentration in the Musi water was as high as 60 to 117 mg/litre in the city limits.

The project envisages collecting and diverting the huge volume of domestic sewage and industrial effluents from 18 nalas flowing into Musi and treating them in five proposed sewage treatment plants to be located in different parts of the city and letting the treated sewage into Musi after it meets the river disposal standards.

The STPs to come up at Amberpet, Nagole, Nallacheruvu, Ziaguda and Nandimusalaiguda form a crucial component of the project - the Amberpet STP alone accounts for one-third of the project cost - as they are expected to treat the total projected sewage flow of the twin cities of 609 MLD by 2005.

With 2005 barely six months away and the project expected to be take three years time for completion, the River Musi Conservation Project, evidently, is way behind the schedule. Even if work commences this year and is completed in three years, will the STPs be able to cope with the sewage volume in 2008, which is bound to increase manifold, thanks to the rapid pace of urbanisation and industrialisation?

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Road-digging adds to residents' woes
• Musi project makes little headway
• No power supply in many areas
• MLA for cleaning of nalas on a war-footing
• MCH to buy loaders for garbage clearance
• Berths available on trains
• No water tomorrow
• New sky show
• Hospital's special packages
• SCCL lauded
• Around the City
• In Hyderabad Today

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu