Civil society leaders speaking about the problems being faced by those being moved out of the Musi riverbed, in Hyderabad on Monday.
| Photo Credit: G. RAMAKRISHNA
Civil society groups on Monday demanded that rehabilitation be prioritised over demolition on the Musi riverbed.
“Don’t confuse the actions of HYDRAA with Musi. They are two separate things. We want a project that has ‘river and the people’ and not ‘people vs. river’. It should be a people’s project where people are integral to the project,” said Brother Verghese Theckanath of Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights (CHATRI). He was seconded by members of different civil society organisations for demanding justice for people getting displaced owing to the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
“What is the urgency? The government should first plan rehabilitation before displacement. People are the primary stakeholders here. We need a public rehabilitation policy so that its fairness is known to others,” said Meera Sanghamitra.
“This is a replay of the Telugu Desam Party’s Nandanavanam Project mapped in 1997. There are 20,000 people living on the banks of the river; all their houses are being removed, and they are being displaced,” said Brother Verghese.
“How much is our labor, how much is our right (how much is our labour, how much is our right). This is the slogan of the people who are being displaced, as they are the builders of the city. These stakeholders have to be roped in for the project to succeed. Their right to life has to be protected,” said Jeevan Kumar of Human Rights Forum.
Among the speakers was Rakhiya Begum, who teaches at the St. Montfort PIN School. “I have been associated with the school from 1995. The children who live in the area need to be moved to a location where there are similar education facilities. The right to education of these children should not be affected,” Ms. Rakhiya Begum said, sharing how her life was closely linked to the Musi river.
Published – September 30, 2024 09:25 pm IST
