The Telangana Assembly sessions began on a tense note as the BRS staged a walkout. The party alleged that the Telangana Speaker did not give them enough time to speak on the Musi Rejuvenation Project. They claimed they were denied the chance to counter the Chief Minister’s statements.
BRS MLAs blocked the entry of other MLAs and announced that they would not participate in future debates on government bills. Later, they marched to Gun Park and staged a dharna in protest.
Earlier, Revanth Reddy spoke at length about his flagship Musi Rejuvenation Project. He said the project would begin with rejuvenation works over a 21 km stretch. The work will start from Himayat Sagar and Gandhi Sarovar.
The Chief Minister said the DPR would be ready by Sankranthi. He added that the first phase of works would begin in March. Plans also include developing a 51 km stretch of elevated corridors from Gandipet to Gourelli.
Revanth Reddy stated that Miralam Tank is also part of the Musi Rejuvenation Project. He said the government is spending Rs 450 crore on the tank’s development. The CM stressed that the project would improve living conditions along the river.
He alleged that lakhs of crores were spent on social media campaigns to criticise the project. He said rehabilitation is unavoidable and cited similar efforts under the Sabarmati, Yamuna, and Ganga river projects. According to him, large-scale rehabilitation had already been done in those cases.
The CM accused people of building farmhouses on the outskirts and releasing drainage water into Gandipet. He said the Nizam once grew medicinal herbs in Vikarabad, but environmental damage has wiped that out. He described the severe pollution affecting residents along the Musi river.
Revanth Reddy said the opposition was not allowing him to speak on the issue. He remarked that there was more spite in people’s minds than pollution in the Musi. He questioned whether the BRS actually wanted the Musi Rejuvenation Project to happen.
Following these remarks, BRS legislators staged a walkout from the Assembly. The discussion caused significant commotion during the session.
The Musi Rejuvenation issue is expected to remain politically charged. BRS leaders are planning to raise various water-related issues through public agitations across Telangana in the coming days.
