Telangana Govt finds enough reasons to demolish Secretariat

​Hyderabad: The state government has come up with enough reasons to explain to the High Court why it wants to demolish the existing Secretariat complex and construct a new one.

The state government, which has been directed by the court to file a counter to a public interest litigation filed by Congress MLA T Jeevan Reddy opposing the move of the state government, has decided to submit a detailed report as to why it wants to demolish the complex and construct a new one.

Fire officials went round the buildings in the Secretariat on Wednesday and took measurements of each building. They also inspected all the buildings and listed out the deficiencies particularly from fire safety angle.

According to their findings, none of the blocks are safe from fire accidents and in fact an inferno is waiting to happen. No safety norms have been followed in any of the buildings and even the Chief Minister’s block is not safe, they said.

The ‘C’ block, which has CMO and ‘A’ block, have no fire exit. In case of fire, there could be a big catastrophe. The ‘C’ block is at the end of the complex and there is no space on the backside of the building where security personnel can be deployed and this could prove to be a security hazard.

The security system that is in place now in the complex is also not foolproof. With so many visitors to the Secretariat, it could lead to serious security problems. The routine checking and issuing of passes for visitors is not foolproof.

At present a visitor who seeks pass to visit a particular department can virtually go round the entire complex without any check. Apart from fire and security aspects another major reason why it wants to demolish is because of lack of parking space and lung space. There is hardly any greenery and the roads leading to various offices are in irregular shape.

The report is also likely to tell the court that the ‘G’ block which was constructed in 1988 and has been lying unused for past 22 years is likely to collapse anytime.

Similarly, due to wrong planning, the 24-acre land has been converted into concrete jungle and this gives a dull look. Any foreign visitor would feel repulsive to enter the complex, the government is likely to state in its report.

Even in terms of facilities, it does not meet the requirements. The conference hall where cabinet meeting is held is very small and if the CM desires to hold Collectors’ conference, he has to do so in a hotel and hence there was an urgent need to demolish the existing structures and construct a new modern looking secretariat, the government is likely to tell the court.