From Telangana chief secretary SK Joshi to TRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao, several party leaders were seen attending the "Bhumi puja"
Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on Thursday (June 27) laid the foundation stone for the construction of new secretariat buildings at the existing locations in the state.
The "Bhumi puja" was performed at the D Block in the secretariat complex situated near the picturesque Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad.
Several state ministers, including A Indrakaran Reddy and Vemula Prashant Reddy, TRS Parliamentary Party leader K Keshava Rao and chief secretary SK Joshi were among those present on the auspicious occasion.
According to PTI, a senior official from the party said that once the designs are finalised, some of the old buildings located in the existing secretariat would be demolished as per requirement.
The Telangana Cabinet had recently appointed a group of ministers headed by road and buildings minister V Prashanth Reddy on the construction of new secretariat building.
The Cabinet had endorsed the final decision-making choice on the building designs to the chief minister.
The state government also indicated that the new secretariat which would come up in about four lakh sqft would cost around Rs 400 crore.
Meanwhile, the opposition BJP MLC N Ramchander Rao alleged he was not allowed by police to organise a planned protest against the construction of new secretariat buildings, by demolishing some of the existing structures.
"If the protest is not allowed, what is the state of democracy in Telangana?" the BJP leader questioned.
Andhra Pradesh last week handed over all the four blocks (in the secretariat complex) which were under its control to the Telangana government paving the way for it to construct a new secretariat.
The Andhra Pradesh government was allotted four blocks in the secretariat complex in the state after bifurcation of the two states in 2014, as Hyderabad was made joint capital for both the states for a period not exceeding 10 years.
The Telangana government is in the process of identifying office space for accommodating staff during the construction of a new secretariat complex.
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