Hyderabad: Whatever little development that Musi Riverfront Project has seen has faced a setback due to floods following heavy rains last month and release of 23,000 cusecs of water from Himayatsagar and 12,000 cusecs of water from Osmansagar. The velocity of floods in the river caused erosion of about four kilometres of pavements, cycling tracks, landscapes and other infrastructure developed at Nagole at a cost of Rs 9 crore.
Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) authorities maintained that before taking up the development work at Nagole, they had taken into account the major devastation caused due to flash floods in October last year. But they are surprised that last month’s floods due to heavy rains still caused quite some damage.
MRDCL chairman D. Sudheer Reddy has, however, maintained that it is only a minimal damage. The continuous high intensity flow from upstream Musi had cut through the soil beneath the pavements at Nagole, disturbing the tiles set up on them. He said the corporation teams have been working on restoring the damaged portion since last week. He, however, did not disclose the amount of damage.
When asked about future challenges as Musi River will most likely face similar situations every time it rains heavily, Sudheer Reddy said there plans to raise the central portion of Musi depicting the shape of a quarter moon during dry season, so that the water streams could be regulated. He said engineering officials have prepared some plans in this regard. A final decision will be taken during the board meeting on August 28.
Musi River Front Development Project began in 2006 but had slackened. After formation of Telangana, the TRS government decided to give the river a facelift at an estimated cost of Rs 740 crore, with 70 per cent of funding coming from National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD). Due to fund crunch, the project gathered dust during the first term of TRS government. In the interim, the project cost escalated to Rs 1,665 crore.
However, despite formation of MRDCL and earmarking Rs. 1,665 crore, the nodal agency has neither diverted effluents that come into the Musi River nor removed encroachments from its banks till date. It has though identified for development certain stretches of the river – 3.5 km from Nagole to Kothapet, 3 km in Uppal Bhagat, 2 km from Chaderghat to Puranapul and about 2 km near Muslim Jung Bridge.
