BRK Bhavan for temporary Secretariat

Hyderabad: A roadmap has been devised for shifting of the TS Secretariat so that the existing four blocks (A, B, C and D) can be demolished and Secretariat can be completed within a year.

The designs submitted by noted architect Hafeez Contractor envisaged a built-up area of 8 lakh sq.ft. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao favours five lakh sq.ft. in a single 10-storeyed tower. Fresh designs have thus been called for with the cost pegged at less than Rs 200 crore.

Mr Rao had said in January 2015 that a new Secretariat was required because the existing one suffers from “dangerous Vaastu defect”. The other reason cited was that all offices should be housed in a single location for better administrative and public convenience.

The entire BRK Bhavan will be used to accommodate the Secretariat during the construction period. The top ninth floor will be allotted to the CMO. The current B-Block will be shifted to the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors, A-Block to the 5th, 6th and 7th floors and C-Block to the 8th and 9th floors.

D-Block will be accommodated in HoD offices located in BRK Bhavan. The existing offices in BRK Bhavan will be shifted to other government buildings such as Gruha Kalpa, Maithri Vanam and even Hotel Expotel at Lower Tank Bund. Mr Rao has also asked the Chief Secretary to write to the AP government, urging it to hand over its vacant premises in Hyderabad.

Once AP hands over its blocks (J, K, L, H), the government plans to shift all offices located outside the Secretariat into these premises. Meanwhile, Mr Rao is learnt to have briefed Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan about the Secretariat building plan and sought re-allotment of AP Secretariat blocks to TS.

Mr Rao is also learnt to have brought to the notice of the Governor that since the AP Secretariat had been shifted to Velagapudi, all the four blocks (J,H,K,L) allotted to AP had become vacant. If the AP government needed accommodation for a few more years, the TS government was willing to provide alternative buildings.

The CM is learnt to have urged the Governor to ensure the vacant blocks allotted to the AP government are allotted to TS. As per AP Reorganisation Act, 2013, the Governor is empowered to take a decision on the allotment of buildings to TS and AP in the common capital Hyderabad.

The Governor allotted A, B, C and D blocks to TS and J, H, K and L Blocks to AP after bifurcation. There is no clarity whether the TS government would go for demolition of AP blocks or accommodate the TS Secretariat the A,B,C and D blocks to build new Secretariat.