The Musi River, which flows through Nalgonda in Telangana, has turned into a source of concern due to pollution and encroachment issues. Once a lifeline, the river is now heavily contaminated by industrial waste and sewage. Residents face health hazards and declining groundwater quality, making urgent restoration efforts essential.
Even as a political slugfest is on in Telangana over the state government’s prestigious Musi Riverfront Development Project, #Khabarlive takes a reality check of a few villages that once depended on the river — now a stinking disease-bearing, cattle-killing bane of Nalgonda.
Many decades ago, Venkatamma, then a girl, used to drink the water directly from the Musi River. So did the other villagers of Rudravelli.
The river had then flowed, its water quenching the thirst of villagers and green fields on either side of the bank. On moonlit nights, it glittered like a silver waistlet, flanked by the silhouettes of whistling palmyras.
Venkatamma has now transformed into an elderly woman, bearing the callus left in her mind by decades-long life experience. The Musi, too, has transformed.
A stench announces the river’s presence before its dark, scum-filled putrid water comes into sight. A low bridge now connects Rudravalli with Hyderabad, some 60 km away. The Musi waters that had once sustained life, have now become a curse to the residents of its riparian villages.
Musi did not turn putrid on its volition. The river was used, misused and abused over several decades, making it gasp for breath.
Beyond politics
On 3 October. Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was at his acerbic best when he flayed the Opposition for questioning his regime’s flagship scheme, the Musi Riverfront Development Project.
Claiming that the river rejuvenation project would provide clean water to Nalgonda, he said the contamination of the waterbody was now causing mayhem in the district.
The BRS was quick to blame the government for the present state of Musi. Suryapet MLA G Jagadish Reddy blamed the government for Musi’s deterioration. He even dared the Revanth Reddy dispensation for a debate on Musi.
Jagadish’s indignation was based on the BRS’s allegation that the Musi was polluted after the government halted the operations of the sewage water treatment plants that it had launched when in power.
Even as the political war of words continued, beyond the fields, thatched houses and the low bridge, Venkatamma had her gaze fixed on the Musi, her mind racing down memory lane.
A dying river
“We used to kneel by the bank and drink directly from the river. We used the water for everything, from laundry and bathing to cooking rice. It was our lifeline,” she said.
The villagers have long stopped using the river water. “We can’t even go close to the Musi anymore. It stinks,” Venkatamma said about the river that has been a part of her life.
“Rice cooked with that water goes bad and smells, as does the milk. Even the vegetables rot fast when irrigated with water from the river. The industries along the river have dirtied the once clear Musi,” she blamed.
The polluted river has hit the livelihoods of the farmers. “We’ve always used Musi’s water for irrigation,” Ramesh, a 35-year-old farmer at Bibinagar Mandal’s Rudravelli said.
“However, over the past two decades, the yield has dropped and my crops keep getting damaged,” he added.
Cattle not spared
Masayya, a 67-year-old paddy farmer, pointed out another distressing issue. “I used to have three cows and I sold them after their calves had died. They developed skin issues and often fell sick,” he recalled his loss.
“The three cows I had couldn’t reproduce because of the water,” the sexagenarian said.
The elderly farmer was not exaggerating. “I see about 40 cases a month of livestock facing either reproductive issues or skin allergies,” Dr Ashok, a veterinary doctor in Julnoor said.
“I get these cases from across Pochampally Mandal. The majority of the livestock owners bathe them in the Musi, and the chemicals in the water cause skin issues,” he explained.
“Additionally, the low and middle-income livestock owners feed the cattle with para grass that grows along the river. The grass which takes up its nutrients and water from the river is also contaminated. These leads either to infertility or multiple failed pregnancies,” the veterinarian continued.
Ground reality
Sunitha, a nurse at the Pillaipalli Health Centre, too, has fond memories of the river, full of life not long ago.
“My cousins and I used to play by the river. We used to drink its water, bathe in it and wash our clothes,” she recalled.
“Today, even the groundwater has been contaminated due to Musi’s pollution,” she said in a soft voice.
Sunitha said almost everyone in Pillaipalli stopped consuming Musi water about 15 to 20 years ago.
“We don’t get any serious cases of illness because people don’t drink its water. The most we receive are cases of skin allergies from exposure to the water while farming,” she informed.
Not skin deep
Thanks to a polluted Musi, Mukshapathy Lingala’s skin is scarred.
“Working in the fields invariably means coming into contact with the water. Every time we come into contact with the water, our hands and feet start itching uncontrollably,” the farmer in Pochampally explained his skin.
“The factories along the river let out the effluent at 3 or 4 am so that no one would notice,” he claimed. “However, there is a residual effect of all chemicals. I have seen women entering the river faint from the fumes,” Lingala said.
Dairy farmer Masayya said he did not sell his cattle even after a few of them had died. “I didn’t sell the remaining livestock until their milk started to stink unbearably. The water even hardened the once softer manure,” he said.
Farmers across Rudravelli, Pochampalli, and Bandaravirala spoke about the foul-smelling milk.
“You can’t take milk close to your face,” Lingala said. Sunita, Venkatamma, and Ramesh concurred.
Milk, toddy and nausea
Mahesh, a 30-year-old milk seller at Pillaipalli, has stopped giving his cattle water from the Musi.
“I’ve been in the business for eight years with 14 cows and buffaloes. I stopped giving them Musi’s water after they started to develop reproductive issues and the milk began to smell unpleasant,” he said.
In Bandaravirala, Raju, who supplies milk to Hyderabad, said the water from the Musi also caused the milk to curdle fast.
“Everybody in the milk business here has stopped feeding our livestock water from the river. We even stopped giving them para grass. We either get water from borewells or the less-polluted lakes,” he said.
Putta Swamy, a toddy tapper, pointed at another issue. “I am one of the few remaining toddy tappers in Pillaipalli. The village used to have 160-odd tappers,” he represented a tribe diminished by the river.
“About 80 of 100 people would consume the toddy we brought. It was tasty and healthy,” the 56-year-old man recalled the good old days.
“The taste is missing now, and the toddy smells bad. The remaining 20 percent who still drink it are complaining of gastric and other issues,” Swamy said.
“People don’t even buy the toddy if they know it’s from Pillaipalli,” another villager Danayya chipped in. He added that the villagers have been buying vegetables and grains from elsewhere.
Fall from grace
Even as the BRS has been blaming the Congress government in Telangana for the present condition of the river, Musi earned disrepute in 2022 itself.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) deemed Musi the ‘most polluted river’ in Telangana in 2022, based on a state pollution control board report. Evaluating the pollution levels across eight stretches in the state, it looked at Musi between Hyderabad and Nalgonda.
It held the pharma and chemical industries responsible for the worsening condition since they released effluents into the river. Interestingly, Musi was a priority river in the 2018 Restoration of Polluted Rivers Plan of the Central Pollution Control Board.
A couple of months before the NGT’s report, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences placed Musi as the 22nd most polluted river in the world.
Evaluating the river based on the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, (APIs), it determined that Musi had 1,200 nanograms per litre. APIs are biologically active particles linked to numerous problems for animal, plant, and human health.
Additionally, the 258-river study also found drugs like oseltamivir and ketoconazole in Musi’s waters.
Pollution, no more a secret
Similarly, a 2024 study by the Indian Institute of Chemical Research and Australia-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation found a high volume of antibiotics in Musi. It estimated 0.013 to 19.295 micrograms of anti-microbial drugs per litre across 11 points along Musi.
The organisation raised concerns over potential health risks and disease-inducing microbes developing resistance to antibiotics in the river, making them less effective in treating affected organisms.
“It’s an open secret that Musi is polluted with industrial waste,” Nalgonda District Agriculture Officer Shravan Kumar said.
“The polluted water is used to irrigate the fields along Musi,” he stated. He noted that Musi’s pollution has grown over the last decade and a half, and further worsening with time.
“I did not receive explicit complaints from the farmers. However, the drop in crop quality and yield is evident. Whether directly or indirectly, a polluted Musi has harmed Nalgonda’s agriculture,” he added. #hydkhabar
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