Demolition of poor people’s houses will not be tolerated: Kishan Reddy on Musi Rejuvenation Project | Latest news from India

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday made it clear that it is not against the Telangana government’s proposed beautification of the Musi embankment in Hyderabad, but it will not allow the demolition of poor houses along the river.

The BJP organized a one-day Maha Dharna at Dharna Chowk near Indira Park in the city to express solidarity with the poor people whose houses have been marked for demolition by the Musi Embankment Development Project (MRDP) authorities.

Addressing the dharna, Union Coal and Mines Minister and Telangana BJP president J Kishan Reddy said his party would not be against rejuvenating the Musi but without evacuating the poor people who have been staying along the river for decades.

“The Congress government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy is trying to demolish people’s houses along the Musi river in the name of beautification and rejuvenation. In the last 10 months, she has not even laid a foundation stone for the construction of any weaker housing program, but is trying to demolish the houses of the poor in the name of Musa development,” he said.

Kishan Reddy said he accepted the CM’s challenge to stay in houses on the banks of the heavily polluted river for at least three months. “We are ready to stay in these houses not just for three months but for whatever time Revanth Reddy wants,” he said.

Stating that BJP supporters are ready to do even ‘Kar Seva’ to take part in cleaning the Musi river, the Union minister said that beautification cannot be done by demolishing houses. “We are even ready to go to jail to fight to prevent the demolition of the poor’s houses,” he said.

Union Home Minister Bendi Sanjay alleged that the Musi embankment project has turned into a money-raising activity of the Congress government. “While the Sabarmati Embankment project cost only Rs ₹7000 crore and Ganga rejuvenation project cost ₹20,000 crore, Revanth Reddy estimated that the Musi river beautification work would cost ₹1.5 lakh crore, which is absurd,” he said.

Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender said the Congress government was giving sleepless nights to the people living along the banks of the Musi who were under constant threat of demolition of their houses.