Hyderabad: A 12-member delegation of the Musi Jan Andolan (MJA) met Bhatti Vikramarka Mallu at Praja Bhavan on Thursday night, March 12, and raised concerns over the proposed Musi Riverfront Development Project, particularly the hurried unveiling of Phase-1 plans.
The meeting, which lasted over two and a half hours, was attended by ministers D Sridhar Babu, V Srihari, and A Laxman Kumar. The meeting happened following a March 10 letter by prominent activist Medha Patkar urging chief minister A Revanth Reddy to halt the March 13 event at Taj Krishna and initiate democratic dialogue.
Demand for transparency
The delegation urged the government to suspend the unveiling event at Taj Krishna and release the complete Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the entire project in English, Telugu and Urdu, along with river boundary and buffer zone maps.
They demanded at least sixty days for stakeholders to submit suggestions and objections and called for public hearings with affected communities.
Concerns over displacement
Activists said river rejuvenation should focus on controlling industrial pollution rather than evicting thousands of families living along the Musi.
They questioned the need to acquire about 3,279 acres in Hyderabad and argued that commercial riverfront projects and concretisation of a living river do not constitute ecological rejuvenation.
Objections to land acquisition order
The delegation demanded the withdrawal of G.O.Rt. No.921 issued in December 2025, which identified 10,017 structures and 3,279 acres for project phases and exempted the project from social impact assessment under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, through a 2017 state amendment introduced during the tenure of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi government.
MJA also cited earlier demolitions of nearly 300 houses along the Musi in October 2024.
Questions over funding
The group questioned claims that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) had approved Rs 4,100 crore for the project, citing official communications dated January 23 and March 11, 2026, indicating no loan approval, a press release from MJA said.
Government response
Responding to the concerns, the deputy chief minister said the project’s objective is river rejuvenation and assured that no forcible displacement would take place. He clarified that the March 13 event would only be a PowerPoint presentation outlining the project’s scope, and that public suggestions would be invited online.
MJA declines event invitation
MJA said it would not attend the Taj Krishna programme, stating that accepting the meeting should not be interpreted as endorsing the riverfront project.
The organisation also condemned the detention of activist Syed Bilal at his residence, calling it undemocratic, and said it would continue peaceful protests to protect the river and affected communities, the release further said.
MJA activists meet Harish Rao
Separately, representatives of the Musi Jana Andolan committee and residents displaced from several bastis and gated communities met T Harish Rao, Deputy Floor Leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Assembly.
They alleged that destruction and demolitions were being carried out under the guise of the Musi clean-up initiative and urged him to raise the issue in the Assembly.
Harish Rao assured the affected residents that the BRS would support their struggle and said he would use the Assembly platform to expose what he described as illegal demolitions and excesses carried out in the name of river rejuvenation.
