TELANGANA: KCR’S DREAM CAPITAL
Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s ambitious new secretariat complex raises a cloud of controversy
On July 7, bulldozers and earthmovers began demolishing the 25.5 acre Telangana state secretariat complex, raising a cloud of dust and debris—and with it yet another controversy over Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s priorities in governance.
KCR’s plan to build a spanking new secretariat over the next two years, before the 2023 legislative assembly poll in the state, has met with fierce opposition. On June 29 this year, the Telangana High Court dismissed a batch of PILs (public interest litigation) filed between 2016 and 2019, opposing both the construction of a new secretariat complex and the demolition of the old one. The demolition work began a week later, on July 7, but was stalled on July 10, following a court order on a fresh PIL, asking if the state cabinet had met and resolved to demolish the complex and whether the Construction and Waste Management Rules, 2016, were being followed.
At the time of writing, the court had issued a third stay order on the demolition till July 16.
Of the 10 office blocks of the existing secretariat, four are less than 25 years old. One of the older blocks— G block, also known as the Sarvahitha block—was constructed as the Saifabad Palace in 1888 by the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahboob Ali Khan, and has served as the office of several chief ministers, including Neelam Sanjiva
Reddy, Kasu Brahmananda Reddy, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Jalagam Vengala Rao and N.T. Rama Rao. To permit its demolition, it was removed from the list of the state’s heritage buildings.
Detractors of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) say KCR’s push for a new secretariat, in the time of a raging pandemic, is mistimed to say the least. They also lampoon as unscientific his assertion that the existing secretariat has ‘bad vaastu’, and allege that the project is really about his desire to be seen as the ‘builder of modern Telangana’. Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president, says, “The administration has demolished the buildings only to satisfy the superstitious beliefs of an individual.” The state BJP president, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, goes even further, saying, “What we have is a monarchy in the state.” He suggests the money would have been better spent on building a hospital, with many opposition members echoing similar demands.
Ignoring these protests, the CM ensured that the demolition work last week proceeded on a war footing. A temple and a mosque on the premises were damaged by falling debris, to add another controversial dimension to the saga. KCR has offered an apology and an assurance that these structures will be rebuilt. “The government will not mind spending crores of rupees for the construction of a mosque and a temple larger than the present structures,” he said. Perhaps as a result, the Federation of Telugu Churches (FTC) is now asking for a church also to be built in the new complex. “There is a long-pending request with the government for allotment of land in the secretariat premises for a church,” says FTC executive secretary, Father Anthoniraj Thumma.
Regarding the new secretariat, the chief minister argues that a break from the past is needed for the fledgling state to grow vibrantly, and that tearing down buildings that stand as symbols of an earlier era are vital to that
Among the older blocks being razed is Saifabad Palace, which was built in 1888 by the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad and has served as the office of many former chief ministers
aim. The proposed new secretariat, with a built-up area of 700,000 sq. ft, is to come up as a six-storey structure on three acres of the site, leaving the remaining for landscaping and utility buildings. Chennai-based architects Oscar G. Concessao and wife Ponni M. Concessao, who designed the building, say it is based on vaastu principles and the elevation is in the Deccan Kakatiya style. The domes and allied features, they say, are inspired by Shiva temples. “The complex is designed to allow natural light and air and incorporates many green building principles,” says Oscar Concessao. The new complex will meet the latest fire-safety norms (many of the buildings that were razed did not meet these norms), as well as those relating to eco-friendly construction, disaster management and other mandatory regulations.
The secretariat building itself is to be ultra-modern: smart lighting controls, motion sensors, automatic switches and other features to reduce energy consumption. Its terrace and parking areas will incorporate solar panels to power the complex.
Corridors and other spaces have been designed to keep the structure cool and allow air to circulate naturally, making it energy efficient. Inspired by the Palace of Versailles in France, the complex will have two major lawns in the northeast and southeast corners of the main building, with a water body and reflecting pool in front, which will also serve as a rainwater harvesting facility. The complex will include a childcare centre and places of worship, along with a canteen and a fire station.
The building will house the offices of all state-level department heads, and will have an administration command-and-control system connected to all district collectorates. Even before the new building is constructed, the state secretariat (in its temporary transit facility) is working to usher in an e-office system by next month. This is to improve the mechanism to track file movement—currently, there is no such mechanism to track the movement of paperwork among government departments. The new system will ensure that digital copies of every file and document are created and circulated among the officials concerned, from section officers to department secretaries. This will also ensure that approvals come within stipulated periods.
The manner in which the demolition has proceeded—with the entire area cordoned off as a high security zone—has also triggered mocking, light-hearted speculation that the chief minister is looking for buried treasure. (Some historians do claim that riches lie buried in the precincts of the Saifabad Palace.) That, most likely, is palace apocrypha but the treasure KCR is really after is a certain stature, a larger-than-life projection of self in the popular imagination. As political commentator C. Narasimha Rao puts it: “[The CM] went to the secretariat only 22 times during his first five years. He is now building a new one only to erase the memories of past rulers and to establish himself as the father of the Telangana state. He will not go to the new secretariat more than 10 times during the next four years. He wishes, perhaps, that he alone is remembered after the Nizam in Telangana.” ■