HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will lay the foundation stone for the new Secretariat complex and the new State Legislative Assembly and Council integrated complex on Thursday. According to sources, Rao will first lay the foundation stone for the Secretariat building near D Block at 11 am. Later, he will proceed to Errum Manzil to lay the foundation stone there at noon.
Arrangements for the bhumi puja for the two complexes were completed on Wednesday. State government advisor (architecture) Suddala Sudhakar Teja inspected the bhumi puja area in the Secretariat and gave suggestions to the officials. Principal Secretary Roads and Buildings Sunil Sarma and engineer-in-chief Ganapathi Reddy too supervised the arrangements.
According to sources, the government invited all MLAs and MLCs for the ground-breaking ceremony at the Secretariat. The entry of outsiders will be restricted due to lack of space near the venue.
The existing Secretariat was located on 25.5 acres of land and various offices were located in 10 blocks. Of the 10 buildings, Sarvahitha, constructed by Nizams, was in a dilapidated condition. There is no heritage tag for this building. The remaining blocks were built without following safety norms, and proper ventilation was not available. Hence, the government decided to construct a new Secretariat building.
Currently, the A, B, C and D blocks are spread over 35,818 sqm, while the J, K, L and H (North and South) blocks occupy 49,342 sqm. In the new Secretariat building, the government is contemplating having a carpet area of 6 lakh sq ft.
All 10 blocks to be demolished
Until NT Rama Rao, all chief ministers used the Sarvahitha building. Later, when M Chenna Reddy became CM, he shifted to C Block, considering the Vastu. During N Chandrababu Naidu’s regime, A, D and H blocks were built. The old D and H blocks, built by Nizams, were demolished.
The Andhra Pradesh government last week handed over the four blocks under its control. Now, all 10 blocks will be taken down. The Secretariat offices will be shifted to the Burgula Ramakrishna Rao Bhavan, CID office, IDC office and to HoDs offices from July.