‘Musi River Rejuvenation’ should not a be a project of mega displacement, land grab and privatization!

Over a hundred activists & environmentalists across India call for a comprehensive review of the ‘Musi Riverfront Project’!

Ensure the Ecological Free flow of Musi by ending pollution and not by commodification of urban commons! Uphold rights to dignified housing, livelihoods, democratic participation of all Musi residents

31st Oct, 2024: The National Forum of Urban Struggles (SHRAM) of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) expresses deep concern at the manner in which Mr. Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister of Telangana is proceeding with the ‘Musi Riverfront Development Project’, without adequate consideration to the numerous socio-ecological, economic dimensions of the Project. As the CM is all set to formally lay the foundation stone for the Project tomorrow, we call for an immediate and comprehensive review of the Musi Riverfront Project, from all angles, in a truly consultative, people-centric and ecologically just manner.

For over three decades, successive governments tried to introduce the same Project in different forms, although none of them sought to address the fundamental issues around deteriorating riverine health and people’s rights. The infamous Nandanavanam Project had to be scrapped by the then Chief Minister Mr. Chandra Babu Naidu in 2000, after a strong people’s movement. The BRS Govt established the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL), during its first term, although it didn’t stay in power to pursue the Project. The Congress Govt has now made this its flagship program and the CM, in particular is almost unrelenting, considering this his ‘Dream Project’, visiting and drawing ‘inspiration’ from London and Seoul !

The past month in particular has seen hectic activity on the ground, with hundreds of houses being marked in red as RB-X (said be in the Musi River bed), and many among them already demolished, despite no notice and stiff opposition by people who have been living there since generations. As per official figures, close to 300 families have been shifted (many involuntarily) to the 2-BHK housing units in different localities, although the facilities at these locations is far from desirable. So far, none of the tenants and multiple families residing within each structure have been ensured rehabilitation. Hundreds of other families whose houses have been arbitrarily marked as RB-X, ‘M’ or are said to be in the ‘buffer zone’ are living in constant uncertainty and fear of eviction. The criteria for such markings haven’t yet been put out officially, although authorities claim that 10,000 structures across the Musi would be affected! Most of these families are working class, lower, middle- income residents whose livelihoods are closely knit in the area.

We are of the considered view that a Project of this scale having wide ramifications on Telangana should not be pursued in such haste and without widespread public consultations. There are some fundamental concerns that first need to be addressed by the Government:

1. Why is the Project being hastened and demolitions of homes of poor being carried out without even the Detailed Project Report (DPR) and Rehabilitation Policy in place?
2. What is the total extent of land required for this Project and what would be the overall number of people and families displaced?
3. Has the Project secured all mandatory clearances (environmental, municipal, finance etc) from appropriate authorities?
4. Have project authorities followed the compliance mechanism processes and conditions of the World Bank and other multilateral financial institutions whose finances are to be involved?
5. If the Project is only for cleaning of Musi from industrial and municipal pollution and flood control, why is so much land needed, why construct mega theme parks, tourism hubs and private ventures along the river banks?
6. How can a ‘Clean Musi’ Project be successful if the Govt continues with other projects like ‘Pharma villages’ and Damagundam Forest Navy Radar Project that would have an adverse bearing on the health of Musi?

Reports indicate that alongside the Musi Riverfront Project, other Hyderabad-based projects like Future City, mega road and infrastructure hubs, would cost a whopping 1.5 lakh crores. This raises larger questions as to whether expenditure of such a scale is desirable, while crucial sectors like education, health, agriculture, housing and social security need more attention and investment. Musi Rejuvenation must mean preserving the riverine health and hydrological wellness and not opening up urban commons for capitalist commodification and real estate. Musi needs attention across its 267 kms stretch (including the 55 kms flowing through Hyderabad), addressing concerns of people living alongside it and farmers of 64 villages in the downstream, who are entitled to pollution-free water for irrigation.

We call upon the authorities to immediately stop all attempts at eviction G displacement. Those already unjustly evicted must be fully rehabilitated and the Govt must declare its Rehabilitation Policy forthwith, addressing aspects of dignified housing, livelihoods, education etc. in the event of further displacement of people from the river bed. Any rejuvenation should be in a manner that does least harm to the commons and riverine population, avoiding unnecessary eviction and land acquisition, especially for commercial interests.

The Congress Government which came to power in the state last year, after the significant Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi promised a socially just and inclusive governance, catering to the needs of the marginalized sections of society. Mr. Rahul Gandhi has also (rightly) constantly been raising concerns of crony capitalism at the Centre. However, in Telangana, the manner in which this Project is being bulldozed raises alarm bells over the status of democratic and inclusive decision-making. At the very least, the Govt should have followed the processes in the Land Acquisition and Resettlement Act, 2013 which came in during the UPA regime, after protracted people’s movements. Likewise, the Govt owes to people all information through proactive disclosure, in terms of the letter and spirit of RTI Act, 2005, which was also brought in by UPA.

A Government which claims to build a ‘world-class city’ must first adhere to the internationally recognized principle of free, prior, informed consent of and consultation with people at every stage of Project. We hope that the CM would roll back his capitalist model of river revival and instead uphold a truly democratic, ecologically just, people’s vision of Musi Rejuvenation.

List of Signatories:

Sl. No.	Name	Organization / Affiliation	City / State
	Medha Patkar	Narmada Bachao Andolan and NAPM	Madhya Pradesh
	Dr. S. Seethalakshmi	Independent Researcher and Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch	Hyderabad
	P. Shankar	Dalit Bahujan Front (DBF)	Hyderabad
	Varghese Theckanath	CHATRI	Hyderabad
	Dorothy	Social Sector	Bihar
	K. Sajaya	WT orgs JAC	Hyderabad
	Sakthi rekha	Voice of People	Chennai
	Jasveen Jairath	Social activist	Hyderabad Telangana
	Gayatri Singh	Sr Advocate Bombay High Voury	Mumbai Maharashtra
	Venkat reddy	Social activist	Hyderabad
	Arunya	Student	Hyderabad
	Navdeep Mathur	IIM Faculty	Ahmedabad Gujarat
	Gopireddy Sampath Kumar	Journalist	Hydarabad
	Omar	Student	Hyderabad
	John Michael	NAPM National Urban Struggles Forum	Hyderabad/Telangana
	Siddhartha lavudya	Climate front Hyderabad	Warangal
	Yash Agrawal	Assistant professor of philosophy	Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra
	Nikhat Fatima	Free lance journalist	Telangana State
	Neelam Ahluwalia Nakra	People for Aravallis	Haryana
	Nikita	Climate Action	Hyderabad
	Sarah Mathews	Socio-political activist	Telangana
	Shridevi Kotkar	SAWF	Nerul, Maharashtra
	People for Aravallis	Working for conservation of the Aravallis	Rajasthan
	Dr. Mahesh Banda	Doctor	Karimnagar, Telangana
	Lalita Ramdas	Social Activist and Popular Educator	Hyderabad, Telangana
	Anjaneyulu Madduluri	Social activist	Telangana
	Gautam Bandyopadhyay	Nadi Ghati Morcha – India	Raipur, Chhattisgarh
	Anil Korkishala	Program Manager	Hyderabad, Telangana
	Ch Narendra	Journalist	Hyderabad
	Shashank SR	People’s Union for Civil Liberties – Karnataka	Bangalore
	Natasha Pereira	Self-employed	Mumbai
	Manali Joshi	Service, Company Secretary	Mumbai, Maharashtra
	Khalil ur Rehaman	NAJAR	Dharwad
	Veena Shatrugna	Medical Scientist ( Rtd)	Hyderabad
	Madhu Prasad	All India Forum for Right to Education	Delhi
	Aagnay	Entrepreneur	Bhimtal, Uttarakhand
	Tannuja Chauhan	Visual Artist, ( Save Dwarka Forest )	Delhi
	Padmaja Shaw	Rtd Professor	Hyderabad
	Priya Dharshini	Delhi Forum	Delhi
	Amit Ratna	–	Hyderabad
	Mohini	Avira Foundation	karnal Haryana
	S.Q.Masood	ASEEM	Hyderabad / TS
	Syed Majid Shuttari	Socio-political activist	Hyderabad/ Telangana
	Vihaan Vee	NA	Bangalore
	Rajameenakshi	Business	Tamilnadu
	Akhileshwari Ramagoud	Journalist and Academic	Secunderabad, Telangana
	Ambik yadav	Jharkhand kisan parishad	Jharkhand
	Adv Dr Shalu Nigam	Lawyer and researcher	Delhi NCR
	Soumya Dutta	Researcher / educator / author	Delhi NCR
	K Babu Rao	HRF	Hyderabad
	Nisha Biswas	Activist	Kolkata
	Sagari Ramdas	Food Sovereignty Alliance	Hyderabad
	Sara	Professor	Chennai
	Sharanya	Activist	Koraput, Odisha
	Sunita Sheel	Independent health researcher	Pune
	Rama Melkote	Prof. Retd. Osmania University	Hyderabad
	Rohit Prajapati	Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti	Gujarat
	Girija.B	Social activist	Hyderabad
	Arundhati Dhuru	NAPM	Lucknow U P
	Khalida parveen	Social Activist	Telangana
	B.jyothi	Chaitanya mahila sangham	Telangana
	Shewli Kumar	NCWL	Mumbai
	Madhusudhan	Theatre Director	Telangana
	Vijay Rukmini Rao	Feminist ,Psychologist	Hyderabad, Telangana
	Uma shankari	Rythu swarajya vedika	Hyderabad/ Telangana
	P. Rohini Rajasekaran	Multi-disciplinary Artist	Bengaluru
	Satyavati	Social activist	Hyderabad
	G SaiRaju	Bhumuka	Telangana
	Ashalatha S	Social Activist	Hyderabad
	Padmavangapally	Journalist	Telangana
	Rubina	Development	Telangana
	Bhanumathi Kalluri	Dhaatri	Hyderabad
	Issac Arul Selva	Editor, Slumjagatthu Kannada monthly	Bangalore
	Koppula Vasundhara	Gurthimupu Foundation	Hyderabad
	Issac Amrutha Raj	Slum Janara Sangatane-Karnataka	Karnataka
	Usha Rani	Sannihita	Hyderabad
	Archana Rao	Development Communication specialist	Hyderabad Telangana
	Lissy Joseph	National Workers Movement	Hyderabad, Telangana
	Walter Fernandes	nesrc	Assam
	Hema Chari	Warrior moms	Pune Maharashtra
	Md Hayath Uddin	Mallanna Sagar porata samiti	Gajwel
	Ravi	Employee	Hyderabad
	kanneganti ravi	rythu swarajya vedika,Telangana peoples joint action committee (TPJAC)	Hyderabad
	Reshma	University of Hyderabad	Hyderabad
	Deepthi sirla	WTJAC	Hyderabad, Telangana
	Natasha Ramarathnam	Independent Consultant	Hyderabad
	Moola Saikiran	Software engineer	Hyderabad
	Rashmitha	Ishtaraak	Hyderabad
	Dr Sanjay Mangala Gopal	National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)	THANE
	Prasad Chacko	Social Worker	Ahmedabad
	suresh melettukochy	individual	bangalore
	Dr Suhas Kolhekar	National Alliance of People’s Movements, Climate and Ecological Justice Activist.	Pune, Maharashtra
	Y.geetha	ప్రగతిశీల మహిళా సంఘం (POW)	Vikarabad
	Gabriele Dietrich	Retired Professor	Madurai
	Venky	Neuro Quest Community	Hyderabad
	Renuka Kad	Vikas Adhyan Kendra	Aurangabad
	Rahee	Student	Pune/ Delhi
	Sreelalitha	Job	Telanagana
	Prafulla Samantara	Lok Shakti Abhiyan	Bhubaneswar
	Usha Rani Acharya	Centrs for Climate Justice	Berhampur
	Deepa	Independent	Bhopal/India
	Ravindranath	River Basin Friends	Assam
	Tara Murali	Individual	Chennai
	Pervin Jehangir	Social Work	Mumbai
	Gajre Yadav	Student	Hyderabad
	Mandakini	Advocate	Hyderabad
	Julie George	Advocate	Maharashtra
	Rahul Kodarapu	Justice Movement of India	Hyderabad
	Ruchith Asha Kamal	Climate Front India	Hyderabad / Telangana
	Ashish	Advocate	Telangana
	Abha bhaiya	One Billion Rising campaign	Dharamshala
	Aisha Farooqui	Retired Academic	Hyderabad
	Meera Sanghamitra	National Alliance of People’s Movements	Hyderabad