“Let the river roll which way it is; Cities will rise on its bank” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We have heard this and witnessed it too, sometimes through pages of our history books while sometimes through stories of our grandparents. We have seen rivers roar, we have seen them keep quiet, we have seen them meander through the mountains, we have seen them still on the plains, but why do we have to see them die???

Let us hear the story of a river that is being forced to erase its mark from the city it nurtured with its roaring heart – the Musi/Muchukunda river. Rising in the Ananthagiri hill in Ranga Reddy district, the Musi river flows into the Krishna river at Vadapally in Nalgonda district.

Hyderabad is one beautiful city built on the banks of a once majestic Musi river. In 1518, Sultan Quli Qutb-ul-Mulk rebuilt the Golconda fort in the form of a city, after cutting ties with the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1589, facing the extreme water shortage in the city, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah shifted the city to the banks of the Musi river and renamed it ‘Hyderabad’. Musi engulfed the city in its warm embrace while providing for its people without asking anything in return; until it steered the lives of Hyderabad with the mighty floods of 1908 which will never be forgotten.Markers of that devastating disaster are still luring in the shadows of the old city, reminding us to hear the screams of unappreciated Musi.

The floods were found to be caused due to several water tanks in and around the city overflowing due to heavy rains on both the northern and southern banks of the Musi river. After the floods, the then Nizam (6th), Mahbub Ali Pasha, called legendary engineer M.Visweswaraya to build flood-proof Hyderabad; Visweswaraya obliged and commenced his work in 1909. His suggestion for storage reservoirs built for temporarily impounding all floods or what the river channel could carry led to the completion of Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar in 1926. When their gates are annually opened during heavy rains, the site is visited by numerous residents for the scenic view.

When the gates open and water flows into the river, it comes alive and relives its lost glory that has come down to being a sewer, owing to sheer negligence of the State.

The amount of water in the river has been on a downward slope for years; this adversely affects the river’s health by significantly decreasing the self-cleaning capacity of the river. Stains of Hyderabad’s pollution can be witnessed in the river once it enters the city. Further, the river moves forward flowing into low-lying areas of vegetable fields outside the city where chemicals seep into the groundwater which is again used to cultivate fields later and that's how it ends up in a vicious cycle of affecting human and river health. The chemical waste from Hussain Sagar lake is also being transferred to Musi. Quite a few attempts have been initiated for saving Musi, but it appears that money and policy measures aren’t enough to clean up the industrial waste and sewage in Musi.

Musi has been a part of the Central Government’s National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) and JNNURM - “Save Musi campaign” was launched in 2005. NRCP has released funds for setting up STPs to treat municipal sewage but no funds were allocated for the conservation of Musi. In 2016, the City-based forum for Good Governance filed a PIL highlighting that when Musi flows through Hyderabad, it turns into a giant sewer, filled with garbage and industrial waste from the city. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government set up the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation in 2017. Also, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) launched the “Musi revitalization project” in 2018 while announcing a design competition to redesign the 1.5km Afzalganj stretch in the old city. Ten design firms, including a couple of international firms, registered for the competition but even before moving up the next level, everything went woof into thin air.

In August’2021, the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL) board of directors had a meeting to discuss discontinuation of Musi Rejuvenation and Beautification project. Soon, there was a declaration of the State government to shelve the entire project until a DPR is prepared to tackle urban flooding issues in the city. The decision came after Rs 2-crore expenditure incurred by the corporation on river development works that got washed away in incessant rains that year. Neither was there a light shed on the supposed DPR preparation nor did the concepts of Musi redevelopment saw the light of the day. Overall the changing Musi riverscape offers insights into the power dynamics of social and political forces that work to put urban commons to use. Neoliberal commodification of urban commons and technocratic visions delink their political, historical, and social identity only to result in ecological degradation.

Afzalganj stretch is one of the prime locations where Musi can be seen flowing within the city - near the Puranapul of Old city, which was once the prime link when City shifted from Golconda to Charminar on banks of Musi. Telangana high court and Osmania general hospital are on one side of the bridge while Salarjang museum, placed opposite Imliban park, is on the other side. Under the Save Musi campaign, the nine-acre Imliban park was revitalized in 2007. The initiative proved to be a failure due to the location of the Imliban sewage treatment plant adjacent to the park. Visitors to the Park are greeted by the sight of a long queue of trucks dumping garbage on river banks, entertained by the strong stench of garbage, and bid adios by the breeding mosquitoes on their way out.

Opposite Imliban park, standing tall with all its glory is the Salarjang Museum, the third largest museum in India with the biggest collection of antiques of a person - though it is the collection by three generations of the family of nobles who served as prime minister of Nizams and is now declared a national treasure. It was dedicated to the nation after the death of Salar Jung III in 1949. The collections from the Family’s museum at Dewan Deodi and the library were transferred to the new building in 1968 and two more buildings were added to the complex in the year 2000.

When we talk of heritage, we often start by understanding the basics of Cultural heritage management, which is about striking a balance between developing the tourism industry, generating revenue while still conserving the physical integrity of sites, and promoting and celebrating their educational and cultural values. There are two aspects of looking at intangible heritage – Place Branding and Individual attraction branding.

Afzalganj stretch is a remarkable heritage that needs to be preserved before being completely lost under the layers of political, ecological, and social compromises. The setting of the area is a beautiful experience that can be leveraged to enhance rejuvenating community engagement in a closely knitted environment. Each of the many outstanding buildings suffice to be cherished individually, but then collectively they resemble rare jewels woven together by a stunning thread. Distinctive nature of the place resonates with multilateral sections of the society which provides an ideal Placemaking opportunity, invoking equal involvement from hierarchical society. Inconsistent to the endless potential of the place, Citizens and government alike have abandoned the place completely. People used to come for a river, were greeted by a sewer, and eventually decided to turn a complete blind eye to the failing landscape. General ignorance and nonchalance of the society resulted in discouraging social inclusion and the possible rekindling of the river banks.

A unique one-man’s art collection on the bank of a flowing river, with paved walkways leading to a vast Park;

Dreamy description of the place has been juxtaposed with a harsh reality where the National treasure sits on the banks of a river broken down into sewage.

Is this the best we can do towards our heritage? Heritage is our legacy and our identity that we pass on to the next generations and I am sure Hyderabad does not intend to pass this to its generation.

About the Author

Sonali Mahamna is an Architect & Urban planner, with expertise in urban governance, Inclusive & sustainable development, and community engagement. She is currently working as a Research Associate with ITCN Capacity Building Programme at the National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi.