Officials pin hope on CMs to end Andhra Bhavan row

Hyderabad: When the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana meet in Hyderabad on June 28, one of their aims should be to reach an amicable settlement with regard to Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi, to which both states lay claim.

The Telangana government has demanded that the AP government hand over the building to it. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has argued that the erstwhile AP government constructed AP Bhavan on land given to it by the Centre in lieu of Hyderabad House, which was the residence of the Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan.

The Centre took over Hyderabad House and is using it for banquets and meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries.

According to Mr Rao, after taking over Hyderabad House, the Union of India had given the land in Ashoka Road to the then state government and also paid Rs 500 crore as compensation.

He has written letters to the Centre and the AP government asking them to hand over AP Bhavan to the Telangana government, which will pay compensation to the AP government.

The Centre has told both state governments to resolve the issue as per the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Accordingly the autho-rities of both states have placed three options before the Centre. One is to allot Pataudi House on the premises of AP Bhavan and also some portion of the land of the Nursing Hostel on the premises to Telangana.

The second option is that some portion of land in Sabari and Godavari blocks of the Bhavan and also the land on which the staff quarters stand will be allocated to Telangana.

The third option is that AP can take its share of 58.32 per cent of the land and Telangana can take its share of 41.65 per cent, after the existing structures are demolished.

Telangana state officials informed of the matter disclosed that Mr Rao was not inclined to accept any of these proposals and so the issue has been kept pending. Both state governments currently share AP Bhavan, according to an oral agreement.

Since both chief ministers have decided to maintain cordial relations and settle issues among the two Telugu states amicably, this contentious issue could also be resolved.