PNS|Hyderabad
The Central Government said that the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti had received proposals for four STP projects in connection with the conservation of the Musi River in Hyderabad in 2020, which were returned to the State Government with observations.
“However, the State Government has not submitted any revised proposal. Since 2014 in Telangana, there is no project under the NRCP or any proposal under consideration for controlling pollution in the Musi River. As per information received from the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the Union Government has not received any proposal from the TS Government regarding the construction of a skyway on the Musi River,” said Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat.
Responding to a question by MP Ranjith Reddy the Minister said, “In Telangana, pollution control projects were sanctioned and completed under the NRCP for conservation of the Musi River at a cost of Rs 335.65 crore and four STPs with a capacity of 593 million litres a day (MLD) were constructed and commissioned from 2007 to 2013 in Hyderabad.Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), two STPs of 28 MLD capacity were also constructed.”
The Government of Telangana has sanctioned 31 STPs with a capacity of 1,259.50 MLD at a cost of Rs 3,866 crore to treat the entire sewage generated in the GHMC area.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State Pollution Control Boards/Committees in different States and Union Territories (UTs) are monitoring the water quality in rivers and other water bodies through a network of monitoring stations established under the National Water Quality Monitoring Programme (NWMP).
As per the CPCB Report of September 2018, the stretch of the Musi River from Hyderabad to Nalgonda falls in the Priority-I category. However, in their latest report published in November 2022, the stretches of the Musi River from Bapughat to Rudravelly and from Kasaniguda to Valigonda were also categorised as Priority-I.
The cleaning and rejuvenation of rivers is a continuous process. Through the Centrally sponsored National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), the Ministry of Jal Shakti has been supplementing the efforts of States and UTs by providing financial and technical assistance for controlling pollution in rivers, excluding the Ganga and its tributaries. Steps are being taken to intercept and divert raw sewage, construct sewerage systems, set up Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), provide low-cost sanitation, develop riverfront/bathing ghats etc in the polluted stretches of all rivers including the Musi and the Godavari in Telangana.
