HYDERABAD: The proposed installation of a 125-ft-tall bronze statue of Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution, at NTR Gardens on Necklace Road will not pave the way for removal of NTR Gardens.
The government is also planning to develop Ambedkar Square at the place.
The state government, as part of the celebrations of the 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar, has decided to install the bronze statue.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Monday, deputy chief minister K.Srihari and energy minister G.Jagadish Reddy said they they were making efforts for installation of the statue by April 14, 2017.
“There are apprehensions among some people that NTR Gardens will be removed. This is not correct. We have great respect for NTR. The Telangana state government will respect NTR. The vacant land adjacent to the NTR memorial will be used to develop Ambedkar Square,” Srihari explained. On Ambedkar’s birth anniversary on April 14, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will lay the foundation stone for Ambedkar Square and also for the statue. Rao will also lay the foundation for a huge complex in place of the existing Study Circle at Lower Tank Bund. Later, he will lay the foundation stone for a building of the Centre for Dalit Studies at Boarabanda.
The government issued a GO on Monday, constituting a committee on Ambedkar statue with deputy chief minister Kadiyam Srihari as chairman. Another deputy chief minister, Md Mohahood Ali, and ministers Nayani Narasimha Reddy, G Jagadish Reddy and Azmeera Chandulal will be members of the panel.