New Secretariat and Assembly works from June 27

Hyderabad: The foundation stone for the new Secretariat and Assembly buildings will be laid by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on June 27.

Mr Rao is said to have been chosen in the north-east corner which is adjacent to the helipad on the premises of the existing secretariat to lay the foundation stone for the new complex according to the dictates of Vastu.

For the new legislature complex Mr Rao will lay the foundation stone at the red-coloured old building of Errum Manzil on the same day. The existing secretariat has 10 blocks spread over 25.5 acres.

The state government recently de-notified the Saravahita Block from the heritage list though it was built during the days of the Nizams.

The state government has constituted a three-member committee headed by the roads and buildings minister to see if it is feasible to leave any of the blocks untouched.

Sources revealed that the committee is of the opinion that building a new complex by demolishing all the old buildings is a better idea as it will give scope for a better fascade to the complex and it will be possible to provide space for greenery.

Sources said that in view of the Chief Minister having four corner entries to the new secretariat, officials are exploring the possibility of taking over some of the buildings belonging to Transco and Genco which are located near the existing complex.

The sources also revealed that till the new complex is ready, the Chief Minister’s chamber, Chief Secretary’s chamber and general administration department will be shifted to the Burgula Ramakrishna Rao building which is adjacent to the GHMC office.

With regard to the design of the new complex, sources revealed that Mr Rao has been examining the design submitted by the noted architect Hafeez Contractor earlier and also another design forwarded by a Chennai based architect’s firm.

Sources disclosed that after finalising the design, the government will likely get the work done through global tenders or nomination basis.

Mr Rao recently announced that the estimated cost of the new secretariat is `400 crore and the cost of the Assembly is `100 crore.

He made it clear that the fascade of the new Assembly building will replicate the existing one which was constructed by the Nizam and the new Legislature complex will comprise the Assembly Hall, Council and Legislative Secretariat.

A few years ago the state government constructed two new buildings in the Errum Manzil for the Roads and Buildings department and those two buildings will likely be converted into the Legislative Secretariat.