Telangana asks Andhra Pradesh to hand over Secretariat buildings at the earliest

HYDERABAD: Stating that it is an “emergency”, the Telangana government has sought to hasten the process of taking over the Secretariat buildings held by Andhra Pradesh, following the governor’s recent order to this effect.

Telangana Chief Secretary SK Joshi requested Andhra Pradesh to hand over the buildings at the earliest, during a meeting he held with the State’s Reorganisation (SR) department secretaries L Prem Chandra Reddy (AP) and K Ramakrishna Rao (TS).

Just before the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet’s first meeting, AP officials wanted to know the modalities for handing over the buildings. Later, they conveyed the same to the Telangana chief secretary. “The TS officials said it is an emergency,” AP official sources said, adding that this has been conveyed to AP
Chief Secretary LV Subrahmanyam.

Even as talks about handing over the buildings were on, some AP departments started vacating their offices at J Block in the Secretariat. AP’s SR department, in H Block, would also be vacated soon, sources said.

Telangana wants the buildings soon as the government plans to construct a new Secretariat building at the location of the present one. The Telangana Cabinet, which is expected to meet this week, could take a decision on constructing the new building.

The Telangana government intends to temporarily use the buildings presently held by AP, until the new structure has been constructed.

Unconfirmed sources said CM K Chandrasekhar Rao may lay the foundation stone for the new Secretariat building, probably by the end of this month. But before that, AP has to hand over the buildings. “Telangana officials did not fix any deadline for us to vacate, but they want the buildings immediately,” AP officials said.

Once the AP govt vacates the buildings, the Telangana Secretariat depts would be shifted to the AP buildings. Then, the Telangana buildings would be demolished and a new building, either in U-shaped or a predominantly vertical structure, would be built.