Hyderabad: The Party Zone in NTR Gardens adjacent to the Secretariat, which has been a major recreation centre for people in the city for over a decade, will become a thing of the past soon thanks to the decision of the Telangana state government to develop an Ambedkar Square here including a 125-feet statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
The NTR Gardens is spread over 39 acres of which four acres were utilised to build the NTR Memorial by the Telugu Desam government in 1999.
KCR to do bhoomi puja on April 14
The Party Zone in NTR Gardens will pave way for Ambedkar Square which will include a 125-feet statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. While the NTR Gardens is spread over 39 acres, the HMDA had developed the Party Zone in the remaining 35 acres where recreational facilities for children and elders were created. The zone was also rented out to the public to organise parties, meetings and functions by collecting Rs 30,000 per day.
The TRS government has now decided to replace the Party Zone with the Ambedkar Square. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will conduct a bhoomi puja at the site on April 14, the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar. The project will be complete in a year.
The state government will also demolish the Ambedkar Bhavan on Lower Tank Bund road, which is in a dilapidated condition, and construct Ambedkar Towers, where Dalit students will be trained for various competitive exams in residential mode.
Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari said the government would not touch the four-acre NTR Memorial as it respected N.T. Rama Rao as a great leader.
“NTR was a great leader.
The Telangana state government has the highest regard and respect for him. We will not touch the NTR Memorial. We will only utilise the vacant 35 acres to develop Ambedkar Square and erect a statue,” Mr Srihari told reporters on Monday.
He added, "Following the CM's directions to celebrate Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary in a grand manner throughout the year, special events and programmes will be conducted in all the 10 districts every month till April 2017."
He credited the formation of Telangana to Article (3) of the Constitution, drafted by Dr Ambedkar. "If today Telangana is a reality, it is because of Dr Ambedkar's great vision as he incorporated Article (3), which gave power to the Centre to reorganise existing states and create new ones."
