The State government has focussed its attention on another major building complex, the Ministers’ Quarters located in the upmarket Banjara Hills area, as the process of taking over possession of blocks allocated to Andhra Pradesh in the Hyderabad Secretariat is coming to a close.
The Ministers’ Quarters, spread over close to 18 acres in Banjara Hills, has total 31 quarters of which 15 had been allocated to Andhra Pradesh post-bifurcation.
A beehive of political activity before the formation of Telangana State, the construction of the quarters with all amenities was taken up in three phases.
Works were initiated during the time of former Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu, and they were completed when the government headed by late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy took over the reins.
Senior Roads and Buildings Department officials said 11 of the 15 quarters under the possession of AP, lying vacant since the past few years were already taken over after completing the required formalities.
“We have initiated the process as the instructions from Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan’s office trickled down and retained the possession of 11 quarters,” a senior official engaged in the process of vacating the occupants told The Hindu.
Interestingly, the dependants of some Ministers in the AP government headed by Mr. Chandrababu Naidu continue to live in the remaining four quarters. “We have asked the occupants to vacate the premises at the earliest and we are hopeful of taking over these quarters in a couple of days,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the transfer of buildings in the Secretariat complex to Telangana was completed by Thursday evening after the AP government officials handed over the possession of the two major blocks, J and L, to the General Administration Department. The officials of the two States inspected the two buildings floor by floor to check whether there were any leftovers before the buildings were officially handed over to Telangana.