Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: In a significant move towards social welfare and urban development, the Telangana government announced its initiative to provide double-bedroom houses to underprivileged families residing alongside the Musi River.
According to the official press release, the decision was made after MLAs from the city appealed to the state government to address the challenges of people living along the river bank, particularly concerning the flooding during monsoon season.
The individuals, who endured adverse living conditions, are set to be relocated to areas equipped with essential amenities. This will also free the river of encroachments.
Approximately 10,000 double-bedroom houses will be earmarked for this purpose.
Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao held a meeting with the MLAs on Thursday. Various aspects regarding the growth of the city were discussed at the meeting.
MLAs from Hyderabad placed a unanimous request before the State government to address the existing challenges and irregularities along the Musi River with a primary emphasis on freeing Musi of unauthorized settlements and allotment of state-built homes to the deserving populace.
The proposed removal of obstructions from the Musi River is a strategic initiative, which lays the ground for the upcoming Musi Project. The project is currently in its preliminary planning stage.
The minister appreciated the MLAs for coming up with the proposal which aligns with the State government’s vision to prevent floods in Hyderabad. He said that the State government will shift the poor people residing alongside the river, who are already identified, to a safer place and allot them double-bedroom houses.
“This will provide significant relief to the poor who are forced to live near the river because of poverty. Also, this addresses the existing blockages, in the form of unauthorized constructions, in taking up plans to prevent flooding of the Musi River and other plans. The risk of flooding in areas alongside the river too will come down. This paves the way for works related to the Musi project,” the minister added.
KTR also said that works related to SNDP Phase II will be sanctioned soon.
“Distribution of double-bedroom houses will commence in the forthcoming week and the programme will be conducted at places where the houses are located. They have reported that people are content with the widespread development in Hyderabad in the past ten years,” he added.
However, BJP spokesperson Racahna Reddy hits out at the ruling party, saying, “KTR has today announced that he is going to build a 2BHK houses to remove people who are allegedly living near Musi unauthorised and who are underprivileged and poor people, I wonder why KTR is thinking about the people especially people living in dangerous conditions now, after nine years of terrible floods of absolutely abysmal urban infrastructure in Hyderabad where roads are completely damaged in some part of the city and greater Hyderabad and in an around Musi. There is absolutely no planning, no manner in which the government had followed.”
Congress working president Mahesh Goud said that the move came just to woo the voters of the state which is going for assembly polls this year.
“As this is an election year, just to attract votes they are giving false promises. Two bedrooms in Telangana is a total failure. They have received lakhs of applications and they are not in a position to release a thousand houses, they haven’t given 10 per cent of the total applicants.
It will take 25 to 30 years to keep up the promises, keeping the budget in view, so this is again a false promise to the common man just to attract the votes,” the Congress leader said.
