)
In a surprise decision the Telangana government has decided to build a new secretariat complex for itself in the city on the pretext that the vastu of the existing secretariat buildings is not good.
It may be recalled that Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had selected the fertile farmlands adjoining river Krishna for building the capital city in Guntur district citing vastu reasons.
The Telangana Cabinet on Friday approved a proposal to build the new secretariat at Yerragadda by shifting the government TB and Chest Hospital, which was built by the seventh Nizam of erstwhile Hyderabad state on a sprawling 65-acre campus, to Vikarabad town - some 70 km from here.
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the new secretariat would also have residential quarters for ministers and officers and offices of all the head of departments would also be located in the same premises. It would be built at a cost of Rs 150 crore in a year’s time.
The chief minister’s desire to build sky scrapers around the historic Hussain Sagar is also stated to be one of the reasons behind this decision, according to some.
However, this will possible only if the Andhra Pradesh government also chooses to move out.
Both the governments share the existing secretariat complex as Hyderabad remains as the joint capital of the two states for 10 years. People say the Telangana government’s decision to vacate the existing facility would eventually force the Andhra Pradesh government to take a similar decision.
According to some unconfirmed reports, the government was considering a plan to slightly expand the Hussain Sagar after turning it into a freshwater lake so that the proposed high rise structures is surrounded by water.
