Velagapudi is permanent AP Secretariat, stress AP Ministers

Even as the stone was laid for the Secrtariat at Velagapudi in Guntur district on Wednesday morning by AP Chief Minsiter Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh Ministers had to stress that it was a permanent Secretariat, and not a temporary one. The Ministers had to emphasize the fact of permanent Secretariat because there had been rumours that it would be a temporary Secretariat, which would be eventually demolished for the construction of a new one. They also stressed that the Secretariat would be the first building in the construction of the new capital in the Amaravati area. First two floors of the Secretariat building would be built, and it would eventually be an eight-storey one. The Ministers said capital Amaravati would be spread over 217 sq km. It would have all the infrastructure facilities of roads, drainage, current and drinking water. The Capital Region Development Authority would work for setting up these facilities. After the infrastructure was set up, the buildings other than the Secretariat would come up in the area. The Ministers who underscored the permanent Secretariat include Narayana, Prattipati Pulla Rao and Devineni Uma. Those who took part in the foundation stone ceremony include Speaker Kodela Sivaprasada Rao and Ministers Manikyala Rao, Achchen Naidu, Peetala Sujata and Paritala Sunita. While Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the new Secretariat, his counterpart in Telangana, Chandrasekhar Rao, laid the foundation stone for the employees of Rajbhavan in Hyderabad. Governor of the two States, ESL Narasimhan, attended the Hyderabad ceremony.