Clean Musi Before Building Religious Structures: FGG

Forum for Good Governance (FGG) president M Padmanabha Reddy today urged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to prioritise the cleaning of the Musi river before undertaking the construction of religious structures.

In a letter to the Chief Minister, the FGG president, while appreciating the government's initiative to rejuvenate the river, expressed concern over plans to construct temples, mosques, gurdwaras and churches without first addressing the severe pollution in the river.

The Chief Minister recently laid the foundation stone for a temple at Manchirevula on March 29, 2026. There are also plans to install a 108-foot statue of Lord Shiva in the middle of the river and complete the proposed Omkareshwara temple within two years.

The FGG said that multiple attempts to clean the river had failed over the years despite significant expenditure. In 2001, a Rs 405 crore pollution abatement project yielded limited results. A rubber dam constructed by GHMC at a cost of Rs 50 crore was later dismantled due to its ineffectiveness. Subsequent proposals, including the Musi Phase II project (Rs 750 crore) and a comprehensive Rs 17,130 crore plan in 2012, were either not approved or found to be defective.

The Musi Riverfront Development Corporation (MRDCL), established in 2017 to implement a comprehensive plan, had also made little progress in cleaning the river, the forum added.

The FGG said that, the river had narrowed significantly due to encroachments and resembled a drain in many stretches. Untreated sewage, industrial discharge and pharmaceutical waste had severely polluted the river, making it toxic and unfit for aquatic life, agriculture or human use. The National Green Tribunal had classified it as a priority polluted stretch, the FGG said.

Given the gravity of the situation, the FGG stressed that constructing places of worship in a polluted river was inappropriate. It strongly urged the government to prioritise cleaning efforts before undertaking any construction activities.