Before demolition, KCR to pay last visit to Secretariat

Hyderabad: Almost after two years, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has decided to pay a last visit to the historical State Secretariat next week before being demolished for the construction of a new 'state of the art', 'Vaastu-compliant' central office of the state administration.

As the government already decided to lay the foundation stone for the new building on June 27, KCR is likely to inspect the premises in two or three days and finalise the spot for groundbreaking ceremony of the new Secretariat.

The officials of the state GAD (Political) and Roads and Buildings department, the official agency for the construction of the new Secretariat, already identified suitable spots at 'C Block' and 'B block' to lay the foundation stone.

The CM will finalise one among the two. Once KCR finalisesthe spot, arrangements mainly performing of the rituals, special puja and necessary security arrangements will be made.

It is learnt that AP Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and Governor ESL Narasimhan will also grace the occasion.

KCR in the capacity of the first CM of the newly formed Telangana state had discharged his duties from the old Secretariat for only two years.

In the initial days of his tenure in 2014, he came to the present CMO (Chief Minister's Office) regularly.

After astrologers told him that the Secretariat was against Vaastu, KCR stopped going to the CMO and began his day to day official work from Pragati Bhavan from 2017. KCR's last official visit to the Secretariat was in the early 2017.

Since the Nizam's dynasty, the Secretariat has been developed as the headquarters of the state administration in a gradual manner.

The iconic heritage structure 'G Block' was the first building in the Secretariat. The building was in a dilapidated condition after the costly furniture from the structure was auctioned.

'B and C blocks' were older than 'J, K, L and H blocks constructed in the early 1980 and 90s. The 'D block' was constructed in the early 2000.

Since there was no auspicious days till September, KCR has decided to lay the foundation stone this month end only. The construction activity will take place slowly because the building design and tendering process are yet to be finalised.

Besides, the major task of demolition of the giant Secretariat buildings is yet to begin. KCR instructed Chief Secretary SK Joshi to identify suitable buildings to shift the offices from the Secretariat during the construction period.

The CM has set nine-month deadline to complete the construction of the new Secretariat. The new building will come into operational before Ugadi next.

The Cabinet Sub Committee headed by Roads and Buildings Minister V Prashant Reddy is preparing a report on the feasibility of shifting of all offices from the Secretariat.

The proposal to shift the offices to 'J,K, L and H blocks' which have been handed over to the Telangana government by AP recently is also under consideration.

Earlier, all the four blocks were alotted to AP under the AP Reorganisation Act.