HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Telangana High Court on Monday directed the state government to explain as to why it wanted to demolish the existing secretariat buildings, including those that were constructed a decade ago. It seems that the state Cabinet decided to demolish the said buildings even before the government’s technical committee has submitted its report on the buildings, the bench opined.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy, said this while dealing with PILs filed separately by Congress MLA T Jeevan Reddy, advocate T Rajinikanth Reddy and the Forum for Good Governance, an NGO represented by its secretary M Padmanabha Reddy, seeking a stay on shifting the offices of the Telangana Secretariat to other buildings and demolishing the existing structures to construct new buildings in their place. In the recent past, Congress MP A Revanth Reddy and Prof PL Vishweshwar Rao, vice-president of Telangana Jana Samithi, also filed PILs challenging the impending demolition of the Secretariat buildings.
Advocate Chikkudu Prabhakar, appearing for one of the petitioners, contended that the government’s decision-making process to demolish the existing Secretariat buildings was arbitrary. The government’s decision results in a sheer waste of public money, and the decision was whimsical, he argued, adding that the existing buildings, including those constructed between seven and 20 years ago, would be sufficient even for the next few decades.
On the other hand, additional advocate general J Ramachandra Rao said the state Cabinet took its decision intending to set up an integrated Secretariat complex as several departments were scattered across the city. Besides, the new complex was also intended to receive international delegates.
The existing buildings are not viable and lack safety measures, he said, referring to a report by the director-general (DG) of fire services.
After perusing the contents of the DG’s report, the bench pointed out that there was no recommendation to demolish the buildings.
The report suggested measures for ensuring free passage for the fire brigade in case of a fire accident. The bench asked the state government why it also wanted to demolish the buildings that were constructed a decade ago. The bench posted the matter to Tuesday for further hearing.
On an earlier occasion, the bench directed the State government not to demolish the existing Secretariat buildings until disposal of a batch of petitions filed against the demolition and construction of a new Secretariat complex in its place at Saifabad in the city.