Jala Soudha in Hyderabad to be razed for new structure

Telangana Congress's Reddy said CM had brought to the fore the construction of the new complex only to divert the people’s attention from the pressing problem of unemployment.

While the Roads and Buildings office will not be taken down, the Jala Soudha is likely to be demolished for smooth passage of VIPs to the new Assembly and Council complex in Hyderabad. (Photo | EPS) 

HYDERABAD: The Jala Soudha, the irrigation office at Errum Manzil, will soon disappear, making way for the new State Legislative Assembly and Council complex.

Both the Jala Soudha and the Roads and Buildings office are located on the path leading to the proposed site for the new structure.

While the Roads and Buildings office will not be taken down, the Jala Soudha is likely to be demolished for smooth passage of VIPs to the new Assembly and Council complex, officials said, adding that there is no clarity on where the office of the engineer-in-chief of the Irrigation and CAD department will be shifted.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will lay the foundation stone for the new building on June 27 at Errum Manzil, and an official decision on the demolition of the Jala Soudha is expected later. The multi-storey Jala Soudha was built less than a decade ago.

The government nominated two ministers - V Srinivas Goud and Koppula Eshwar - to the Cabinet sub-committee headed by V Prasanth Reddy, which will submit its recommendations on shifting and demolishing the buildings, sources said.

Jeevan Reddy told reporters that the chief minister had brought to the fore the construction of the new complex only to divert the people’s attention from the pressing problem of unemployment.

“KCR has not yet got around to filling one lakh vacancies. He filled only 20,000 posts. But he is eager to pull down Samata, D, and H blocks of the Secretariat, meant to last 100 years,” he said. The Congress legislator said KCR wanted to earn the reputation of being the architect of the new Secretariat which is why he decided to raze the buildings.

“When I filed a PIL in 2016, the then advocate general submitted to the court that the government would not pull down the buildings. If they resort to demolishing the buildings now, it would be tantamount to contempt of court," he said.

The leader contended that if the State built the Assembly complex here, it would create a traffic problem, and a flyover would have to be built from Errum Manzil to Kukatpalli.