New Telangana Secretariat inaugurated today

Hyderabad: The new Telangana Secretariat, said to be the tallest and one of the largest in the country, would be inaugurated on Sunday. 'Sudarsana Yagam' would be performed from 6 AM and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao would occupy his chambers in the sixth floor after the rituals conclude at 1.30 PM, an official release said.

The Ministers would also occupy their respective chambers and Rao would address a gathering of employees and invitees at 2.15 PM.

The Secretariat has been named after B.R. Ambedkar.

Rao said this decision has been taken with an intention that people's representatives and the entire government machinery should work for realising the ideals of Ambedkar.

In view of the inadequacies in the existing Secretariat complex built during undivided Andhra Pradesh, the government had appointed an expert committee which favoured construction of a new building.

The Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Secretariat on June 27, 2019 and the works started in January, 2021 in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, court cases and others.

The building has been built with a height of 265 feet on an area of 10,51,676 square feet in a sprawling of 28 acres. No State has such a tall Secretariat, the release said.

It is one of the largest Secretariats in the country, it added.

The 'domes' of the new Secretariat have been built on the basis of styles of the Neelakantheswara Swamy temple of the Kakatiya period in Nizamabad, designs of the palaces of the royals of Vanaparthi 'Samsthanam' in Telangana and the pattern of the Hanuman temple in Sarangapur, Gujarat.

The construction was done flawlessly with the instructions of Roads and Buildings (R&B) department, IGBC (Indian Green Building Council), Telangana Technological Services and State police department, the release added.

In view of the inauguration of the Telangana Secretariat, a traffic advisory has been issued for the Tank Bund area.

The Necklace Rotary, NTR Marg, Telugu Thalli Junction, and vice versa will face traffic congestion in addition to the Khairatabad, Punjagutta, Somajiguda, Shadan, Nirankari, Khairatabad flyover.

Traffic congestion is likely at Iqbal Minar Junction, Tank Bund, Ranigunj, Liberty, Telugu Thalli Junction, Ambedkar Statue, Katta Maisamma Junction, Lower Tank Bund, BRKR Bhavan, NTR Marg, Prasads IMAX, NTR Garden, NTR Ghat, PVNR Marg and Lumbini Park.

Hyderabad Traffic Police requested citizens follow traffic updates on their social media platform @Hyderabad Traffic Police Facebook page and @HYDP on Twitter.

People may ring a bell on traffic helpline 9010203626 for travel assistance.

Meanwhile, BJP state chief Bandi Sanjay vowed not to enter the Secretariat premises until it is rebuilt as it hurts the sentiments of Hindus.

He said that the entire building was built against the Telangana culture and there were only two “pits” related to Hindus in the whole Secretariat. The rest of the building was constructed to appease MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, he alleged.

Bandi said that the BJP would make necessary changes soon after coming to power in Telangana.