If there is any urban project in Hyderabad that has been a waste of time and money, it is the Musi river’s development. Despite several announcements over the years by different governments promising to clean it up, tangible changes could hardly be seen in the riverbed since 2012.
I have nothing against the current Congress government, or the BRS before that. This is a strict rant about the Musi river now, because the incumbent government wants to turn it into a massive urban development project and is willing to cause discomfort for a few thousand people for its vanity by adding a massive statue of MK Gandhi for reasons best known to it.
The Gandhi Sarovar Project is supposed to be a 123-150 feet statue of Gandhi as a tribute. The project is centred at Bapu Ghat in Langar Houz—the historic confluence of the Musa and Esa streams where a portion of Gandhi’s ashes were immersed in 1948.
Understandably, Congress wants to push forward its ideas to oppose the BJP, but evicting people from their homes, from a massive building nonetheless, is certainly not the way. But here’s some background for context.
A brief history
The Musi river gets its name from the two streams, Moosa and Eesi, which converge near the Golconda fort. The river has existed for centuries before Hyderabad was founded in 1591 by Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, the fourth king of the Golconda dynasty (1518-1687). It is why Hyderabad is where it is. Quli chose the Charminar and the Old City area (which was the new city then) to move into by vacating the Golconda fort for access to water. The city was founded on the southern bank of the river for water.
The Musi river has historically been a water source for the city. However, devastating floods in 1908 submerged a good chunk of the city (killing an estimated 15,000 people), and its contours had changed forever.
Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad (1911-1948), decided to stop the flow outside by constructing two dams—the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar. This decision changed the river forever, as its flow was restricted to Hyderabad’s outskirts, and water would be let in only during heavy rainfall. Essentially, the river stopped flowing, and the riverbed became dry outside of monsoons.
What followed post independence is that successive governments began using it to dump sewerage and wastes, turning the Musi river into a massive stinky hellhole. Moreover, hundreds of people, especially poor people with no homes, began squatting and constructing homes as the riverbed was dry for most years.
During heavy rains, people have to vacate the area as the government would open the gates of the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar dams (when they would get full), causing the dry riverbed to be wet again. This was the status quo for years. Every government would promise to do something about it, or to clean up the river, but do nothing.
Also read: Hyderabad’s Nizams are a pale shadow of their past. Unlike Scindia & Karan Singh
Gandhi’s great-grandson against move
Cut to 2024, when the current government began talking of the Musi Riverfront Development Project to rejuvenate and revive the river in Hyderabad. It became resettling people from the riverbed, so some of us thought that perhaps the government would finally do something.
Of course, it’s not surprising also because this government wanted a project it could call its own. Every other major welfare project and public project until 2023 was undertaken by the BRS, so the Musi project by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy is also understandable.
However, the state government’s decision to add a massive Gandhi statue is what is honestly beyond me. Is that really even something Gandhi himself would have wanted? He was an austere man, and Hyderabad has one of the biggest state-run hospitals named after him. That itself is enough tribute to him.
In fact, Tushar Gandhi, one of Gandhi’s great-grandsons, has also opposed the project. “Displacing residents to create space for a Gandhi statue is the most unGandhian action. My appeal to the CM of Telangana is to please not do it @revanth_anumula @TelanganaCMO Bapu would have said “Not in my Name, Stop it!”, he wrote on X.
I have no issue with having the statue of Gandhi in my city, but I would not want it to come at the cost of the displacement of anyone. The project is also going to displace about 500 families from Madhu Ridge Park Ridge, a housing complex built close to Bapu Ghat that falls under the land earmarked for the Gandhi Sarovar Project.
The CM claims that half of the complex, built over seven acres, is in the buffer zone of the Musi river.
However, residents say that the buffer zone demarcation was done in 2012 and that the complex was built around 2004. “This is not some illegal building constructed, but a planned one with permissions. They say that they won’t take it forcibly but that the building will not have any value as it will be in the buffer zone,” a source said.
Also read: Salar Jung Museum at 75 is also a story of what Hyderabad lost
Revanth Reddy’s ‘no funds’ claim
There is no clarity on what the government is going to compensate them with, as nothing has been given in writing. The CM and other officials have said that residents will be given the same amount of land elsewhere and money for reconstruction. Residents said that going to revenue offices has left them with more questions than answers.
But let’s face it, everyone knows that building the statue will take years, and where exactly are people supposed to live while the statue is being built? If I remember correctly, Revanth Reddy is the same CM who, in 2025, was talking about the Telangana government not having funds to run the government.
Then what is the need to waste about Rs 5,800 crore on a statue? Other media reports indicate expenses to be more than that. So it beats me why the state feels the need to not just waste money, but also cause so much discomfort. Instead, maybe consider opening the gates of the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar from time to time and keep the water flowing.
Even if it is a little dirty, it will at least clean up the river and let it flow. I hope someone in the government at least tries this as well.
Yunus Lasania is a Hyderabad-based journalist whose work primarily focuses on politics, history and culture. He posts on X @YunusLasania. Views are personal.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)