Stop the Giant Gandhi Statue & Mega-Precinct at Bapu Ghat: Protect Settled Communities.
The Issue
Stop the Giant Gandhi Statue & Mega-Precinct at Bapu Ghat: Protect Settled Communities, River Hydrology, and Prioritize Human Development over Monuments
To
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana
Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), Government of Telangana
Managing Director, Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL)
Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) / HYDRAA
The Appeal
We, the undersigned residents of and concerned citizens of Telangana, urge the Government of Telangana to immediately reconsider and halt the proposed giant Mahatma Gandhi statue and the multi-thousand-crore commercialized "Gandhi Sarovar" development at Bapu Ghat / Langar Houz.
While ecological restoration of the Musi and Esa rivers is an urgent necessity, executing an ornamental, high-cost tourism precinct that displaces lawful residents, clears floodplains, and locks up vital public capital contradicts the very principles of social justice and public welfare.
Key Concerns
Displacement of Legally Settled Residents:
The proposed land footprint threatens settled colonies and residential developments—including approximately 500 families in complexes like Madhu Park Ridge (Bandlaguda Jagir) and adjoining habitations along the Musi and Esa river corridors. These homes represent the life savings of middle-class families, retired government staff, senior citizens, and ex-servicemen who built or purchased properties backed by statutory permissions, government registrations, and institutional home loans.
Ecological & Floodplain Hazards at the River Confluence:
Bapu Ghat marks the ecologically sensitive confluence of the Musi and Esa rivers, receiving controlled and natural outflows from Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar. Replacing natural riparian buffers and river floodplains with massive concrete foundations, hardscaped tourism zones, and monumental infrastructure increases catastrophic backwater flooding risks during heavy monsoon discharges.
Misaligned Public Spending:
Initial official projections and conceptual estimates allocate thousands of crores toward tourism beautification, entertainment zones, and iconic statuary around Bapu Ghat. Spending vast public funds on prestige monuments when civic schools, public hospitals, sewage infrastructure, and urban drainage face severe deficits fails the test of prudent governance.
A Distortion of Gandhian Ideals:
Mahatma Gandhi championed austerity, the welfare of the poorest (Antyodaya), and harmony with nature. Erecting a multi-crore mega-monument that uproots working families and pensioners in his name stands in stark contrast to his life and teachings.
Our Demands
Drop the Monumental Statue & Redevelopment Zone:
Cancel the giant Gandhi statue and high-density tourism construction at Bapu Ghat / Langar Houz, preserving the site as a quiet, green, low-impact memorial rather than a disruptive commercial precinct.
Halt Evictions and Respect Legal Titles:
Immediately suspend all eviction, marking, and coercive acquisition notices against Madhu Park Ridge and surrounding lawful residential communities.
Re-orient the Musi Project to Ecological & Public Health Priorities:
Focus public funds and MRDCL efforts strictly on essential river rejuvenation:
Building and upgrading decentralized Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to stop untreated sewage ingress.
Removing industrial toxicity, de-silting riverbeds, and establishing bio-retention wetlands.
Strengthening embankments and comprehensive storm-water flood management without destroying homes.
Direct Capital to Tangible Human Infrastructure:
Redirect discretionary monument capital to core social infrastructure across Telangana: modernizing government schools, funding urban primary health centres (Basti Dawakhanas), expanding clean public sanitation facilities, and improving neighborhood drainage systems.
Transparency & Public Disclosure:
Place the complete Detailed Project Report (DPR), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and hydrological modeling data for the Bapu Ghat/Langar Houz stretch in the public domain for civic and expert scrutiny before issuing further tenders or land acquisition notifications.
Protect our homes, safeguard Hyderabad’s river hydrology, and choose people over monuments.
- Concerned Citizens of Telangana
21
The Issue
Stop the Giant Gandhi Statue & Mega-Precinct at Bapu Ghat: Protect Settled Communities, River Hydrology, and Prioritize Human Development over Monuments
To
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Telangana
Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD), Government of Telangana
Managing Director, Musi Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (MRDCL)
Commissioner, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) / HYDRAA
The Appeal
We, the undersigned residents of and concerned citizens of Telangana, urge the Government of Telangana to immediately reconsider and halt the proposed giant Mahatma Gandhi statue and the multi-thousand-crore commercialized "Gandhi Sarovar" development at Bapu Ghat / Langar Houz.
While ecological restoration of the Musi and Esa rivers is an urgent necessity, executing an ornamental, high-cost tourism precinct that displaces lawful residents, clears floodplains, and locks up vital public capital contradicts the very principles of social justice and public welfare.
Key Concerns
Displacement of Legally Settled Residents:
The proposed land footprint threatens settled colonies and residential developments—including approximately 500 families in complexes like Madhu Park Ridge (Bandlaguda Jagir) and adjoining habitations along the Musi and Esa river corridors. These homes represent the life savings of middle-class families, retired government staff, senior citizens, and ex-servicemen who built or purchased properties backed by statutory permissions, government registrations, and institutional home loans.
Ecological & Floodplain Hazards at the River Confluence:
Bapu Ghat marks the ecologically sensitive confluence of the Musi and Esa rivers, receiving controlled and natural outflows from Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar. Replacing natural riparian buffers and river floodplains with massive concrete foundations, hardscaped tourism zones, and monumental infrastructure increases catastrophic backwater flooding risks during heavy monsoon discharges.
Misaligned Public Spending:
Initial official projections and conceptual estimates allocate thousands of crores toward tourism beautification, entertainment zones, and iconic statuary around Bapu Ghat. Spending vast public funds on prestige monuments when civic schools, public hospitals, sewage infrastructure, and urban drainage face severe deficits fails the test of prudent governance.
A Distortion of Gandhian Ideals:
Mahatma Gandhi championed austerity, the welfare of the poorest (Antyodaya), and harmony with nature. Erecting a multi-crore mega-monument that uproots working families and pensioners in his name stands in stark contrast to his life and teachings.
Our Demands
Drop the Monumental Statue & Redevelopment Zone:
Cancel the giant Gandhi statue and high-density tourism construction at Bapu Ghat / Langar Houz, preserving the site as a quiet, green, low-impact memorial rather than a disruptive commercial precinct.
Halt Evictions and Respect Legal Titles:
Immediately suspend all eviction, marking, and coercive acquisition notices against Madhu Park Ridge and surrounding lawful residential communities.
Re-orient the Musi Project to Ecological & Public Health Priorities:
Focus public funds and MRDCL efforts strictly on essential river rejuvenation:
Building and upgrading decentralized Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) to stop untreated sewage ingress.
Removing industrial toxicity, de-silting riverbeds, and establishing bio-retention wetlands.
Strengthening embankments and comprehensive storm-water flood management without destroying homes.
Direct Capital to Tangible Human Infrastructure:
Redirect discretionary monument capital to core social infrastructure across Telangana: modernizing government schools, funding urban primary health centres (Basti Dawakhanas), expanding clean public sanitation facilities, and improving neighborhood drainage systems.
Transparency & Public Disclosure:
Place the complete Detailed Project Report (DPR), Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and hydrological modeling data for the Bapu Ghat/Langar Houz stretch in the public domain for civic and expert scrutiny before issuing further tenders or land acquisition notifications.
Protect our homes, safeguard Hyderabad’s river hydrology, and choose people over monuments.
- Concerned Citizens of Telangana
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Petition created on 25 September 2026