VIJAYAWADA: Even as the Presidential notification on Andhra Pradesh High Court, to be functional from Amaravati, is set to come into effect from Monday, Minister for Municipal Administration P Narayana has said that the Judicial Complex, which is supposed to house the HC, will partly be ready by January 31. He said 16 court halls would be ready by the end of January so that the judges allotted to the State can occupy them.
Speaking to the media after inspecting the ongoing works of the complex on Sunday, Narayana said that alternative arrangement to house the High Court would be ready in Vijayawada in a day or two.“We have directed the contractor to complete all the works pertaining to 12 halls in the first floor and four in the second floor of the Judicial Complex by January 31. The parking and garden works will be completed by January 15. In the meantime, we proposed the CM’s camp office as a stop-gap arrangement. However, the court authorities have to approve it,” he said.
The minister expressed confidence that the remaining halls would be ready by mid-February. For the record, there are a total of 23 court halls including the one of the Chief Justice and the chambers for lawyers. The complex will have around 2.25 lakh sqft of built-up area. The construction cost is close to Rs158 crore.
He blamed the Centre for issuing the HC division notification in a hurry. “It is unfair to say that the court will function from the same day of division. How can the lawyers and judges relocate at such a short notice?” he questioned.
While the minister, who is also the vice chairman of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority, said that the complex would be ready in a month’s time, the engineers on the field noted that the structure of such scale would require at least 18 months to be completed entirety. “From the foundation to interiors and patchwork, a minimum of 18 months are needed to build structures like Judicial Complex. We started it only seven months ago,” an engineer pointed out. Narayana also came down on TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao for making sharp remarks against Chandrababu Naidu.
Engineers refute claim,says more time needed
Though Minister Narayana said the complex would be ready in a month,the engineers on the field noted that the structure of such a scale required at least 18 months to be completed. “From the foundation to interiors and patchwork, a minimum of 18 months are needed to build structures like Judicial Complex. We started it only seven months ago,” an engineer on the field pointed out.