Hyderabad: With two days to go before the Telangana government formally unveils the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Phase 1 of the Musi Riverfront Development Project, social activist Medha Patkar has fired off a sharp letter to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, demanding the March 13 event at Hotel Taj Krishna be called off.
Patkar, in her letter dated Wednesday, March 11, called for a structured dialogue, led by the Chief Minister himself, bringing together representatives of displaced families, people’s organisations and concerned officials. She also demanded public hearings to be held in the Musi eviction-affected areas.
The social activist pushed for an independent committee to conduct a comprehensive review of the project, one that looks at it through a river-basin lens, examines alleged violations of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) Act of 2013 and addresses the “serious gaps” in the Environmental Impact Assessment process.
The scale of what’s already happened
Patkar’s letter points out that demolitions have already affected about 375 homes under this project, which the present administration has revived as a “flagship programme.” She flagged the fresh notifications, including the Gandhi Sarovar Project requiring acquisition of 10.34 acre in Bandlaguda Jagir village and additional notifications for 43.48 acre, all proceeding that she termed as “without due regard for democratic participation or procedural safeguards.”
She expressed deep regret that this framework starkly excluded grassroots and indispensable voices, including the directly affected families and particularly those who have received the land acquisition notices.
“Environmental experts, social activists, and collectives like the Musi Jan Andolan, who represent the upstream and downstream community concerns have been ignored,” she alleged, adding that “such omissions render the proceedings antithetical to true partnership, prioritising elite consultations over the lived realities of the impacted.”
Patkar also drew attention to Government Order Ms No 921, dated February 16, which exempted the entire Musi Riverfront Development Project from the “mandatory” Social Impact Assessment (SIA).
She underlines that as per the GO, 10,000 structures and about 3,279 acre of land would be acquired, that too without an SIA. She criticised the “piecemeal approach to the DPR, the absence of a Full DPR and cumulative impact assessment, and deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process,” including incomplete public consultations and inadequate disclosure of land details.
Burdened by toxic industrial pollution
Patkar stressed that the Musi River, which has already been burdened by toxic industrial pollution and encroachments of large structures like the Hyderabad Metro, required a restoration approach that “avoids or at least minimises displacement and destruction of people’s homes and livelihoods,” with full compliance with the LARR Act, 2013.
Her letter pointedly critiqued Telanganag government’s 2017 amendment to the LARR Act, brought in by the then-Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government, which she argued has significantly diluted the protections enshrined in the original 2013 legislation, enacted after years of people’s struggles during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-II regime led by the Congress.
She has demanded the immediate withdrawal of all land acquisition notices issued under the project, including those that invoke the 2017 amendments.
The social activist stated in her letter that she expected the Telangana government to champion the betterment of the Musi and its riverine communities, but not at the expense of one another.
