State cabinet to discuss new secretariat plan today

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government, at a meeting of the state cabinet on Friday , will discuss sharing of Krishna river water with Andhra Pradesh and two other states as also take a call on construction of a new Secretaria complex to replace the existing offices.
The government was hoping that the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal would accept its plea that with Telangana coming into existence as a new state, it was time for fresh allocation of Krishna river water between Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.However, at its hearing in New Delhi on Wednesday , the tribunal declared that it was only seized with distribution of the river water betwe en Telangana and residuary AP, and that any share of the river's water Telangana claims must come from water allocated to the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. The cabinet is expected to discuss this issue in detail and approve a decision to approach the Supreme Court asking for a directive that fresh allocations must be made to all four states through which Krishna flows in the circumstances of a new state being created. The cabinet is also expected to finalize plans and approve chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's plans for constructing a swanky new Secretariat complex at the same location where the existing offices are located near Hussainsagar in the heart of the city . The chief minister, a staunch believer in Vaastu, had first talked about rebuilding the Secretariat more than a year ago saying the government's seat of power had serious Vaastu defects. The government later commissioned Mumbai's Hafeez Contractor for designing the new complex who later did submit some designs.
The move on this front comes just a few weeks after the AP government moved its staff out of the office blocks in the complex that were allotted to it. Though AP is eligible to keep those blocks under its control for the next 10 years till June of 2024, the year when Hyderabad ceases to be the joint capital of the states as per the AP Reorganization Act of 2014, the Telangana government is asking the AP government to hand over those buildings so it can go ahead and start demolishing the existing structures before beginning reconstruction.
The cabinet is also expected to take stock of the ongoing Mission Bhagiratha works as well as construction of various irrigation projects.It was learnt that it was likely that the cabinet would also discuss the conditions in the city, especially that of roads after the heavy rains in September that have now left Hyderabad into virtually a dust bowl.