Hyderabad: The Musi river flowing through the city of Hyderabad has been neglected for the last several years. The rulers did not bother. People didn’t like its condition. Usually, abutting rivers are considered a boon to cities. The presence of Musi river is also a boon for the city of Hyderabad. This river, once a source of good water for environmental and social needs, has become the final destination for city sewage, industrial waste water and solid waste.

In general, rivers are sources of water. But rivers on the banks of cities (and not vice versa) are sources of land too. Over the past two decades, Musi river in Hyderabad is constantly giving ‘land’ to houses, commercial places, roads, too. The river has the power to provide relief from the warming climate. ‘Development’ has become the donor of the necessary land for the problems it has created. The state government, which invests crores of rupees in the name of beautification, is not even willing to look for sustainable solutions. The dismal condition of Musi River has become a starting point for modern development.

Musi river is the only river born in Telangana. It flows for about 267 kilometers and joins the Krishna River near Vadapally. Coincidence or not, it is a state border. The Telangana existence movement should use this as a symbol. But for some reason it was not done. On the other hand, it neglected. The city of Hyderabad was devastated by a flood of this river in 1908, which originates in the hills of Anantagiri.

There was severe loss of life and property. The Nizam’s government took up permanent structures for flood prevention. Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar, twin reservoirs, were built on Isa and Moosa tributaries and high walls were built in the then city limits and flood prevention measures were taken. Flood prevention structures are constructed depending on the river flow characteristics.

At many places, 25 katwas were built to divert the flood water of the rainy season into the nearby village ponds and increase the water retention capacity. Through these structures the water provided by nature has been brought into use. Ever since, there was no threat of flood. Due to low rainfall in Deccan plateau region, water and water resources are used very carefully. About 40 villages have also overcome water drought due to the constructions on the then closed river.

The Musi river had floods later but did not have much adverse effect on the city. However, the flood in the year 2000 caused concern. Many residential areas were submerged. Subsequently, October 2020 flood caused by heavy rainfall submerged residential colonies and caused havoc. In the past few years, many times the river crossed the boundaries and caused concern.

In modern times, some sections of people believe that a truncated river cannot flood. But, in the background of climate change, the flow of water has increased in the last three years. Due to the recent torrential rains, the floods may recur anytime. Flood threat can spread to many areas with encroachment of river basin. Due to heavy rains along with continuous flowing dirty water, chances of high speed dirty water threat due to concretisation are increasing.

The city of Hyderabad has changed in the last 30 years. As urbanization expands, the destruction of the Musi river watershed continues to increase. In the 1990s, the encroachment of the river in the stretch that falls within the city started and it gradually expanded and now reaches the Anantagiri hills where the river is born.

The encroachments that started in the Chadarghat and Afzalganj areas have spread. Even the core bed of the river has not been spared. Decades back, encroachment of river fringes was by the urban poor, who cannot afford to buy a land on their own. But today the encroachment is by real estate mafia and the rich. After the formation of Telangana state in 2014, the speed of encroachment of Musi river increased. Multi-storied structures have expanded against norms.

Importantly, catchment area of Musi river (11,212 square kilometers) is at risk. Around 2.5 crore people live in the catchment area of this river. It is increasing every year. 95 percent of Hyderabad’s growth is within this river basin. Some expansion is also in the neighbouring river Manjira catchment area. Greenery is diminishing. Deforestation has increased. Hillocks are being flattened. Rivulets and streams are also being encroached.

Because of this, rain water flow paths are changing. Land and water resources are changing due to mining of stones , mud and sand. Tanks, lakes, kuntas and ponds are being encroached upon. Many have vanished. Due to loss of greenery and felling of trees, whenever it rains, fertile soil in the river basin is being lost. There are locations where there is no soil to plant trees. Catchment areas have been ignored by all governments in the State.

About 1800 million liters of domestic and industrial waste water flows into Musi river every day. These waste waters contain many types of chemicals, chemical compounds, heavy metals and medicines. More than half of the city is not connected by waste water drains. Some new, upcoming, swank residential areas do not have underground drainage system at all.

There are only 17 functional Sewerage Treatment Plants. Another 19 STPs are under various stages of construction. Together these STPs have the capacity to treat only 1/3 of the waste water generated. Over the years, waste waters from residential and commercial areas have been flowing through the canals, into the tanks, and from the tanks into the river through the canals. Ground water is also polluted in areas on the edges of the river and wherever water bodies are polluted.

Today, all the water sources in and around Hyderabad city are polluted. Due to their pollution at different levels, the city has to get drinking water from elsewhere for its water needs. The contaminants in the river basin of Musi are entering food chain in various ways. Air is also polluted due to dirty water flowing in Musi river.

There is no ‘good water’ in the upper reaches of the Musi River catchment. Only ‘good ‘ water is drawn from Himayat Sagar and Usman Sagar reservoirs. Pollution in these twin reservoirs is also rising gradually. Thus the water flows in the first 140 km of the river length (of about 267 km) is dirty water. This contaminated water is used for agriculture.

Local water, from rains, in the tanks and in water bodies, are being polluted, while water for primary needs are being brought from other rivers such as Krishna, Manjira and Godavari. Today, a few people are proud that Hyderabad city has developed so much by taking water from Manjira river, Godavari, Krishna (water from other areas). If there is a situation where the water stops for a day, it hurts the city to the core.

The government never thought of getting ‘good ‘ water through the Musi river. There are no projects in that direction. No strategies. No ideas. Funds are not available. But, for shops , apartments, commercial complexes, roads, bridges, metro rail, entertainment, traffic problems, Musi River comes to the mind of the government. The beautiful name given by the government to the thoughts swirling on those issues is ‘beautification’.

Additionally, hazardous waste water from industrial use from Patancheru area (in Majira river basin) is being transported to Musi river through a pipeline since two decades. Other industrial effluents are gradually fed into the River Musi by tankers. There is no attempt to avoid this.

Land Reclamation

Instead of seeing the Musi river as a water source and part of nature, it is being treated as a land to generate revenue. It is regrettable that the government thinks that the solution to the long and continuous problems of traffic, dirty water, garbage management, etc. in the city lies in changing the contours and dimensions of River Musi. It is the government that is at the forefront in the occupation of Musi river. Private individuals are boldly occupying it, in pursuit of what government has been doing.

Crores are being spent on River Musi, without touching the core issue of encroachment. Encroachment is evident from Musi river confluence (Musa and Isa river beds), Gandipet Reservoir lower area, Osmania Hospital, Chadarghat, Afzal Ganj, Amberpet, Musarambagh to Nagole, but no action has been forthcoming from the government.

Beautification

Over the past 25 years, the municipal corporation and the State government have spent crores of rupees on the beautification of the river Musi, ignoring the encroachment and pollution of the river. Beautification ideas and projects are formulated in such a way as to change the contours of the Musi River. Beautification means reducing the area of the river. Making the river concrete. Construction of river roads. Constructing buildings. From the Nandanavanam project proposed in 1999 until recently, the ‘beautification’ works undertaken under the aegis of Musi Corporation have destroyed the river.

In the late 1990s encroachments were limited to river stretches near Moosarambagh and Chadarghat. Then, in 1999, government floated the idea that encroachments will be stopped by laying the road, along the river Musi. In fact, there are roads on both the banks of the river laid long back and encroachment happened in recent years despite that. During the Nizam’s time, they were able to stop the flood by building a road on the banks of the Musi and building walls along the river. It has now become common practice to lay the roads along or on the river and then encroachment follows.

Yet, the same ideas have been floated. A case filed by Dr. Narasimha Reddy and others in 2000 was dismissed by the High court, citing development is important above everything else, without going into the merits of the development being planned on River Musi.

Recently, a Skyway project in Musi River was initiated by the Telangana government in 2020. Officials and public representatives believe that the city’s traffic problem will be solved if a road is built in the Musi River from Nagol to Narsingi. Without studying the traffic problem associated with chaotic city expansion, construction of new roads mirrors ‘real estate’ style plans. If at all, by the time this mega skyway project is completed, traffic from Vijayawada to Hyderabad will increase tenfold.

The traffic problem will be further complicated by the increase in the number of vehicles in the city. Traffic problem will remain the same, but there will be no river. Encroachments will multiply, reducing the river to a canal. On the other hand, if the Musi river is converted into a canal, the threat of flooding becomes multifold.

The riverfront project in Hyderabad is inspired by the Sabarmati project built in Ahmedabad. Officials, contractors and public representatives are excited that the riverfront project under contemplation. Under this beautification project, the river will be concretised, water will be brought from Godavari, the dirty water will be transmitted through underground canals, and the middle class people will have a concretised space to have snacks in the evening. Government is not hesitant to take loans for this project.

There is no reason why the authorities are so excited about such a project, which is not about providing basic amenities for the average city dweller.

Latest Proposal

The Government of Telangana through the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) is working on reviving the entire river ecosystem. It floated a call for Expression of Interest. This document says the government wants to “rejuvenate and trigger growth across urban landscape along the influence zone of the river (Musi).” It has five components:

1. River and water management - The river bed and embankments will be strengthened. Eventually the project may also have a component of river linkage to ensure perennial water flow. Water from Godavari will be stored in twin reservoirs of Himayatsagar and Osmansagar and will be released into River Musi on a daily basis.

2. Master Plan (Landuse, Trunk Infrastructure, Financial) - making space for pedestrian zones, hawker bridges, recreation & tourist areas, commercial centers etc.

3. Mobility corridor and Transit Oriented Development - East West road corridor

4. Riverfront Development - The riverfront will have people’s plazas, cycle tracks, green spaces, hawker zones, bridges, recreational & tourist areas, sports facilities, parking areas, commercial & retail spaces, and hospitality infrastructure.

The project will identify strategic land parcels along the river for commercialization and development of supporting infrastructure. The Musi Riverfront Development project is expected to cost over 7 billion USD (Rs.56,000 crores). It is proposed to finance the project through a variety of sources including: Government resources, multilateral funding agencies, financial markets and private sector funding.

A variety of cross sector partners will be on boarded to ensure the project becomes a revenue generating platform for the Government. A significant portion of the project cost will be funded by commercialization of identified lands around the river. This project aims to leverage financial markets by strategically accessing both equity and debt markets to secure the necessary capital for implementation. Embracing innovation and sustainability, the endeavour plans to utilize instruments such as green bonds, social bonds etc.

Who owns the river?

Musi river falls under which government department? Musi River is one of the natural resources that no department has oversight. Every department eyes the land below the Musi River. There are business benefits. There are no reins of governance. They are tying business interests with political goals and looting the natural resources by creating a façade of public welfare.

The officials of Hyderabad Metro Rail Corporation, who built the metro station in the bed of the Musi river, did not take permission to build in violation of the River Conservation Act, 1884. But no action has been initiated. During the construction of pillars for Metro Rail, a dirt road laid for the lorries to move was left undisturbed later. This became a boon to the illegal encroachments.

The government has also decided to build 15 bridges over the Musi river in the name of solving the traffic problem. There are no studies on the need for these bridges. However, due to the roads used to build bridges, the depth and area of the Musi river will further decrease.

Holistic Thinking is Key

Laws, regulations and plans laid down for the development of the mega city should focus on the sustainability of the Musi River. If this relationship is ignored, the future will be dark. The looming threat to the Musi River is a burden for all. People and government need to change their attitude towards Musi river. There is a need for Hyderabad to sustain the Musi River. This river can protect Hyderabad from the threat of flood. Telangana is at a stage where the seeds of perfect economic development need to be planted by increasing food production, preserving traditional livelihoods in the Musi river basin.

The area of forests should be increased. Greenery should be preserved. Hazardous pollution should be avoided. Dependent on technology, sustainable development is not possible on the foundations of ideas of engineers, contractors and officials. People’s participation should be increased in the sustainable management of natural resources.

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority has been set up by the government to coordinate land use planning but has not set up an organization to coordinate the use of water and water resources. For beautification, sustainable use and continuous ecological services of Musi, the Government of Telangana should pass an Act in the Legislative Assembly to establish a Musi River Authority.

Land use, land use changes, conservation of water resources, nature conservation etc., in the entire river basin should be brought under the purview of this authority. This authority should have planning and development control powers. Sustainable use of natural resources requires integration of social, economic, social, scientific and political aspects. Sustainable solutions are possible with scientific thinking. Telangana state needs a political leadership that will start efforts in that direction.

Originally published in Urban Kaleidoscope, fourth edition, by People Resource Center. Reprinted with permission.