Why Telangana decided to have a new Secretariat building
Frequent short-circuits, poor amenities made Telangana govt revamp the seat of power
Hyderabad: The new Secretariat was not a sudden, out of the blue decision.
Soon after the formation of the new State of Telangana, the State government under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had begun administration from the old Secretariat. However due to lack of required amenities, canteens and parking, employees and visitors faced many difficulties. Apart from frequent short circuits, there were more than one instances of concrete patches and portions from the ceilings collapsing, posing a risk to the employees.
Considering all these factors, the Chief Minister constituted a Cabinet Sub Committee under the chairmanship of Roads & Buildings Minister V Prashanth Reddy to study the structural stability and other aspects of the old Secretariat. The sub-committee submitted a report stating that the condition of the structure was not good. Following this, the State government constituted an expert committee led by the R&B Engineer in Chief. After comprehensive study, the Committee identified many deficiencies and recommended construction of a new secretariat with high standards as per the requirements of the State administration.
The Chief Minister laid the foundation for the new Secretariat on June 27, 2019. Renowned architects Dr. Oscar G. Concessao and Dr. Ponni M. Concessao were appointed as designers for the new Secretariat. After the designs were approved by the Chief Minister, Shapoorji Pallonji and Company Private Limited was awarded the contract to construct the new Secretariat.
Administrative approval for Rs.617 crore was received for the building construction. Till date, Rs.550 crore has been spent and the construction cost is expected to increase by 20 per cent to 30 percent than the earlier estimates. This was mainly due to the increase in GST from 6 percent to 18 percent. As a result, cost of construction materials shot up substantially, officials said.
