Dear Friends! The Musi river needs your help! 

The Musi river in Hyderabad, which once used to have crystal clear water fit for human consumption, and now in recent years it can barely breathe owing to industrial pollution, poor urban planning, and the extensive building of dams in and around the river. Today, anyone visiting Old Hyderabad will be greeted by the stench and garbage heaps around the river. A staggering effect of all these human activities was seen in 2020 when a flash flood in Hyderabad took almost 100 lives bringing the city to a complete halt for more than a week. Extensive building of dams and heavy pollution is pressurizing Hyderbad's water resources and huge water scarcities are seen every summer. The Musi river in a literal sense is now a “sewage canal” obstructing the flow of water, killing aquatic life, and releasing chemicals into nearby soil beds. But there is hope to restore the river with sustainable sewage treatment plants, urban planning, chlorination, and the installation of plastic interceptors.

The Musi River originates from the Vikarabad forest range, separating into two parts and dividing the Northern and Southern parts of Hyderabad. The Osman Sagar dam was constructed on the southern arm of the river and the Hussain Sagar dam was constructed on the northern arm of the river. Overpopulation, growth of excessive industries, and over-dumping of sewage in the river have led to catastrophic changes. The population of Hyderabad has increased a drastic 87% from 2001 to 2011. The 600 million liters of untreated sewage water dumped into the Musi river per day directly affect the economy, agriculture, and culture of 30 villages around the river. Continuous irrigation of agricultural crops along the Musi river is leading to the contamination and deterioration of Hyderbads aquifers, leading farmers to increasingly depend on wastewater from the Musi for cultivation. Many water-borne diseases such as typhoid and malaria are spreading rapidly leading to a loss of human life, change in cropping patterns, and an increase in medical expenditure. 

The Telangana government has presented ambitious plans and has promised to restore the river to its glory. However, in reality, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply have been ignoring the restoration of the river and have allocated huge funds to develop the surrounding river.

With the help of science and technology, the government and stakeholders of Telangana can resolve these problems. Building Sewage treatment plants along the catchment areas of the Musi river would be very beneficial, to produce environmentally safe sewage water that can be reused or channelized to the river. Taking up methods like chlorination to kill bacteria, viruses and other microbes in water can be very effective to stop the spread of diseases. Plastic interceptors help to extract around 50,00kg of plastics from the river per day which can help eliminate a large amount of garbage from the river. Urban planning of industries, limiting construction of houses, and proper drainage systems in and around the river, can help destress this area and prevent floods. 

You might believe that this petition may not directly affect you, but think of all the tranquil sites and diverse ecosystems that have been, or are being destroyed while you read this. The environment supported us so now it's our turn to help the environment.

 Please don't let our Musi River die!