Even before the Meinhardt-led consortium has submitted its Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Musi riverfront development project, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy announced that the foundation for the project would be laid in the first week of November. He also announced that the world’s largest statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be installed at Bapu Ghat.
Tenders for executing the project would be floated in November and the works would begin from Bapu Ghat, he said in an informal chat with journalists, who were part of the government-sponsored trip Seoul recently.
Despite the stiff opposition from different quarters, especially from residents along the riverbed, the Chief Minister asserted that the project would be taken up at any cost.
“I am prepared for a debate with opposition parties and an all-party meeting will be convened shortly,” Revanth Reddy is learnt to have said during the nearly
two-hour chat.
Bapu Ghat would be developed as an Gandhian Ideology Centre and development works would be taken up covering 21 km before the Bapu Ghat, he said, also announcing that River Godavari water would be diverted from Mallanna Sagar to River Musi and tenders for these works would be floated in November. The Musi project would trigger tourism development and a delegation of MLAs and corporators from the city too would be sent to Seoul, he said.
“I am a football player and have a clear game plan. Once the 55 km River Musi stretch is developed, it will emerge as an amazing city,” Revanth Reddy said, demanding that BRS MLAs KT Rama Rao and Harish Rao and BJP MP Etala Rajender to join him for a padayatra from Vadapally to Vikarabad.
The Chief Minister also claimed that the slump in the real estate sector was not due to HYDRAA and stressed that there was stagnation in the sector across the country.