“There will be focus on the project’s sustainability and it is the right time to get our act together. There should be good public support for its success,” asserted S P Singh, secretary, municipal administration and urban development department. He was speaking at a workshop on ‘Save Musi Campaign’ organised by Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) and JNTU School of Planning and Architecture here on Wednesday.
The project will be implemented in two phases each of 15 months duration. While the first phase will complete 28 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 238.16 crore, the second phase will take up 13 projects with an outlay of Rs 668.20 crore. Out of the allocation, nearly 45 per cent will be spent on the sewerage component.
According to Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) Commissioner Sanjay Jaju, all the public properties coming under the project will be handed over to the SPV. “An advisory group of experts will be formed shortly. Also the Heritage Conservation Committee will be consulted on the issues related to the heritage buildings,” he pointed out. He stressed the importance of Pollution Control Board (PCB) in controlling the dumping of effluents into the river.
Plans are on the anvil to introduce regulations for the construction of buildings and skylines around the river. “A multi-level Special Area Development Authority will be formed apart from improving the sewerage system in the catchment areas of Musi,” said Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) Vice-Chairman Jayesh Ranjan.
During the open forum, the suggestions from the participants varied from taking up a comprehensive study on the river water to restricting the flow of industrial wastes into Musi. A monitoring secretariat to keep track of the project’s progress will start functioning at JNTU, Masab Tank in the coming days.
