Curtains have come down on the old Secretariat complex that has been the centre of administration since the liberation of Hyderabad State, with the government starting demolition of the buildings and paving the way for construction of a state-of-the-art new complex.
The Secretariat complex has a long history since it started functioning from the days of the first Chief Minister of Hyderabad State Burgula Ramakrishna Rao in 1952. The same complex was retained as seat of administration even after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956 when Neelam Sanjiva Reddy became the first Chief Minister of the united State.
Stalwarts like Damodaram Sanjivaiah, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Marri Channa Reddy, N.T. Rama Rao and Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy besides N. Chandrababu Naidu functioned from the same complex over the past six decades. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao too operated from the same premises, although for a brief while, before he started convening official meetings at Pragathi Bhavan.
The old Secretariat complex has 10 blocks including the G-block Sarvahita or the Saifabad Palace of the erstwhile Nizams spread over 25.5 acres land. It has a total constructed area of 9.16 lakh sq.ft with D block constructed in 2003-04 occupying 2.46 lakh sq.ft area. Two other buildings, the L block constructed in 1984 and the J block (1990) too have large plinth area of 1.89 lakh sq.ft and 1.46 lakh sq.ft respectively.
The other blocks too were spacious with the plinth area of A block measuring 46,500 sq.ft, B (36,750 sq.ft), C (55,800 sq.ft), H south (59,870 sq.ft), H north (79,828 sq.ft), K block (55,427 sq.ft). Telangana was given four blocks A, B, C and D with a total area of 3.81 lakh sq.ft post-bifurcation in 2014 while the successor State Andhra Pradesh was given the two H blocks, J, K and L blocks with 5.31 lakh sq.ft area. Though it could keep the possession of the portion of Secretariat allotted to it till 2024 in accordance with the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, the Andhra Pradesh government headed by Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy handed over the buildings to the Telangana government a few months ago.
The G block in particular has been historical, though it failed to secure the Heritage Monument status, as it had been the seat of administration for more than a dozen Chief Ministers right from 1952 when Burgula Ramakrishna Rao took over the reins. The block continued to be the centre of administration till the mid-1990s with former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao being the last Chief Minister to run the administration from the block after his return to power in 1994.
The G block, constructed during the period of sixth Nizam Mahbub Ali Khan and used for general administration purposes by seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, had been neglected after former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu shifted the CMO to C block. The old H block and D blocks were demolished during Mr. Naidu’s period and the new D block was inaugurated in 2004 and the H north and south blocks in 2011.
