Fire in Telangana secretariat building; Opposition blames KCR for rush to inaugurate complex on his birthday

A fortnight ahead of its inauguration, a fire broke out in the new Rs 600 crore Telangana secretariat building in the wee hours of Friday.

The incident has let the opposition Congress and BJP to blame chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao “for the pressure put on the construction, finishing work teams in order to open the complex on 17 February, the CM's birthday.”

“It is an unfortunate event arising out of quality-less works carried out because of the CM's rush. The CM should postpone the inauguration and shift the date to Dr BR Ambedkar's birthday in April,” said Bandi Sanjay, the TBJP chief, demanding a thorough scrutiny of all the electricity etc works.

The details of the damage or the cause was not revealed, though over 10 fire engines were rushed to the spot to control the fire.

Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy said that the BRS government was trying to cover-up its fault, “stating the fire as a mock-drill.”

“It is apparent that SOPs were being ignored because of the immense pressure to open the secretariat on KCR's birthday. Is this a monarchy to open a public funded building on the CM's birthday?” Revanth questioned.

The Lok Sabha MP demanded that an all party delegation should be allowed inside the complex to ascertain facts.

A group of Congress leaders who attempted to visit the Secretariat were stopped by the police at Gandhi Bhavan.

On Thursday, KA Paul, a popular evangelist turned politician, had petitioned the Telangana high court, objecting to the inauguration of the “incomplete” secretariat on CM KCR's birthday and sought directions for the government to hold the inaugural on 14 April, Dr B R Ambedkar’s birthday.

According to the CMO sources, the Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat, as named by KCR, is getting finishing touches for inauguration on 17 February. The CM has invited Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM chief Hemant Soren, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, JD(U) national president Lalan Singh (as representative of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar) for the opening of the vast complex for state administration.