Hyderabad: BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao wondered when the 12,000 acres of land acquired from farmers for the Pharma City project would be returned to them since the project was cancelled long ago. He recalled that the promise was made by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Congress leaders M. Kodanda Reddy, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu and Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.
Raising a question on this matter in the Assembly, he said, “The cancellation of the Pharma City project has been announced repeatedly sans clarity on the lands. Why does the beautification of the Musi River need Rs 1.5 lakh crore? Already, as part of Musi beautification, 100 per cent of the sewage is being treated. A budget of Rs 16,000 crore was allocated for the purpose. The estimate for the beautification has been on the rise, starting from Rs 50,000 crore initially and to Rs 75,000 crore as quoted by the tourism minister. The Chief Minister then announced the astronomical figure of Rs 1.5 lakh crore for the same. The reason for the revision should be explained.” If Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka has the DPR for the project that should be kept in the public domain, he demanded.
The former urban development minister expressed concern about halted works of the strategic road development plan and the strategic nala development programme due to pending payment of bills. “Even the construction of flyovers and bridges has been stopped for eight months now. I don’t understand how the construction of elevated corridor and other projects which cost Rs 5,000 crore could be completed by allocation of a meagre Rs 700 crore to the HMDA,” he questioned.
He demanded the state government conduct the next budget session for 20 days. “The government has got approval for 19 budgetary estimates on a single day by extending the session to 3 am. This denied the opportunity for the 57 newly elected MLAs to air their opinions,” he said.
