Hyderabad, July 21 (IANS): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao has questioned the ‘dramatic’ increase in the cost of the Musi River beautification project.

Initially estimated at Rs 50,000 crores, the project's cost was later revised to Rs 70,000 crores, and now to a staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crores, he said.

The former minister claimed that the erstwhile BRS government had already completed 100 per cent sewerage treatment at a cost of Rs 3,866 crores and planned the rejuvenation, beautification, and development of the Musi River at an estimated cost of Rs 16,634 crores.

This includes an expressway from ORR West (Manchirevula) to ORR East (Pratapa Singaram). He questioned the significant increase in project costs, raising doubts about the current government's calculations and intentions.

While Congress criticised the Kaleshwaram Project, which transformed the fortunes of Telangana's farmers and was completed at a cost of Rs 80,000 crores, the proposed expenditure for the Musi River beautification, amounting to Rs1.5 lakh crores, has sparked debates and scepticism across the state, said KTR, as the BRS leader is popularly known.

He asked how many farmers would benefit from the Musi project, what is the storage capacity in TMCs, how many acres would come under irrigation, what will be the increase in crop yield, what industrial needs will be met and how many new large reservoirs will be constructed.

KTR questioned Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's preference for the Musi project over the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project, which is in its final stages. He also raised concerns about the strategy behind transforming Musi into a river akin to London's Thames, leaving other irrigation projects that could be completed with less budget and effort.

KTR alleged that the tripling of Musi's estimated expenditure is evidence of financial mismanagement. He insisted that while the Musi project is necessary and should be completed promptly, corruption or misuse of funds will not be tolerated.

KTR said that Telangana society remains vigilant, monitoring the developments of the "Musi River Front" initiative. Any attempts to embezzle funds will be met with strong opposition, he added.