Naidu’s attitude made me talk of Secretariat at Bison: K Chandrasekhar Rao

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday confirmed that the state would have a new Secretariat and a new Assembly building, and these would not come up at the Bison Polo Ground.

The Secretariat would come at the premises of the old group of buildings and the Assembly at Errum Manzil.

Briefing mediapersons after the second Cabinet meeting of the new government at Pragathi Bhavan, Mr Rao said the foundation stone would be laid on June 27, Dasami.

He said the AP government was officially handing over its share of Secretariat blocks on Wednesday.

This would facilitate construction of the new Secretariat.

He said, “Due to the confrontationist approach of the earlier government in AP with Telangana state, we proposed to build the new Secretariat at Bison Polo Ground in Secunderabad. With friendly approach of the present AP government, we have changed our plans and decided to build the new Secretariat in place of the existing one.”

He said the Secretariat was spread over 25 acres. “The Cabinet has decided to build 5 lakh to 6 lakh square feet at a cost of about `400 crore. As June 27 is an auspicious day, the foundation stone will be laid for the new buildings.”

He said a three-member committee, to be headed by roads and buildings minister Vemula Prashant Reddy will be constituted to study the condition of the existing buildings.

The committee will determine whether any of the blocks can be retained or all of them have to be demolished and submit a report to Mr Rao. The Cabinet has empowered the Chief Minister to take a decision on the report.

Mr Rao said the Cabinet has decided to replicate the elevation of the old Assembly building at Errum Manzil where 14 acres of land is available. The new building will comprise a Central Hall, Assembly Hall and Council besides the Legislature Secretariat. Mr Rao said the existing Assembly building will be preserved.