Telangana government mulls translocation of trees on Secretariat premises

Hyderabad: About 1,000 huge trees in the old Secretariat complex will be translocated before the construction of the new Secretariat. Only a few trees close to the giant buildings will be flattened, say official sources.

A few trees were chopped off up to the stem to facilitate hassle-free demolition of the 10 structures on the premises. Nearly 800 trees planted along the Secretariat compound wall will also be translocated soon. Another 200 fully grown trees aged more than 20 years will also be shifted after conducting a study of the survival of the trees post translocation.

The government has entrusted the GHMC the responsibility of protection of the trees. An official team was on the job to find a suitable location for the translocation of the trees.

As the demolition of the buildings is on fast pace, officials said that the J and L blocks will be flattened in two are three days. The other eight buildings have already been razed and the segregation of iron and concrete from the debris was in full swing.

It is estimated that nearly one lakh tonnes of debris will be generated from the demolished buildings and the shifting of debris will be completed by August second week. However, it is not known where this debris is being dumped. Before removing it, segregation of debris is also being done. Iron, wood, etc, may be sold as scrap.

After the completion of shifting of the debris, the work mainly digging of deep trenches will be taken up to construct the six-floor building.