The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Joint task force to oversee Musi beautification plan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Joint task force to oversee Musi beautification plan

Staff Reporter

No construction activity will be taken up on the riverbed: Jaju

HYDERABAD: A joint task force of the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) and the district Collectorate was formed for zonal classification to enumerate structures and for taking up relief and rehabilitation for the area coming under the Musi beautification programme.

Corporation Commissioner Sanjay Jaju told public representatives at the consultation workshop on Tuesday that all the proposed changes on either side of the river would be `above' high flood level mark.

He was responding to Mayor T. Krishna Reddy's fears over a grave situation that could arise when the two reservoirs upstream - Osmansagar and Himayatsagar - get excess inflows.

Issues discussed

Four main issues - Musi beautification, construction of flyovers, Mass Rapid Transit System and remodelling of nalas - were discussed at the meeting attended by MLA M. Sashidhar Reddy, Secunderabad Lok Sabha MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Madhu, corporators and others.

Mr. Jaju said that the beautification project was in a conceptual stage and 80 per cent of it was to clean up the river.

"No construction activity will be taken up on the riverbed," he said.

Any real estate development would only be on `excess land' identified after the cleanup, he clarified to persistent queries from Mr. Madhu over "sale of Government land".

Existing relief and rehabilitation policy of the Government would be implemented and vacant land was identified near Kukatpally. The Collector was also looking into the matter, he said.

The corporation Additional Commissioner (Works) K. Harshvardhan made the presentation.

Mr. Sashidhar Reddy criticised authorities for not taking any action though it was decided to remove encroachments on nalas at a meeting of city MLAs chaired by Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy last year.

He suggested another meeting with Dr. Reddy on this issue and urged the corporation to have an action plan ready.

The Superintending Engineer (Irrigation) Y. Chalapathi Rao, making a presentation on nala encroachments, called for "drastic steps" to remove them.

Earlier, Minister for Municipal Administration K. Ranga Rao said that the Government was serious about addressing infrastructural problems of the city like traffic, drains and drinking water supply.

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