New Delhi: Hyderabad, which served as the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since 2014, will now solely belong to Telangana. When the then undivided Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated on June 2, 2014, Hyderabad was made the common capital for 10 years, which ends today, June 2.
According to The Hindu, the Andhra Pradesh government has agreed to vacate all buildings in its possession in Hyderabad except for those buildings housing institutions listed under Schedule X and XII of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. Offices of Film Development Corporation, Civil Supplies Corporation, Dairy Development Cooperative Federation, Vaidya Vidhana Parishad and other offices fall under Schedule IX and X institutions of the Act.
The newspaper notes that the Andhra Pradesh government had written to the Telangana government in January seeking permission to retain three buildings – Hermitage Complex, CB-CID headquarters and Lake View Guest House – till the time bifurcation issues between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are resolved.
Due to the election code, the Election Commission has restricted both governments from taking any decision on the pending bifurcation issues. However, as things stand, the matter was already referred to Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy. “The file pertaining to Andhra Pradesh’s request is pending as the Chief Minister is yet to give his consent,” a senior official said.
Although Hyderabad was meant to be the joint capital of the two Telugu states for ten years from 2014 to 2024, for all practical purposes, it has served as the sole capital of Telangana since 2015, when the then-Andhra Pradesh chief minister announced Amaravati as the capital of his reorganised state.
With Hyderabad ceasing to be the joint capital, the Telangana government is expected to get possession of over 55 buildings from the Andhra Pradesh government located in prime places in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Several key departments of the Telangana government, now functioning from rented premises, will be shifted into these buildings.
Additionally, about 500 staff quarters and more than 350 quarters belonging to police and grey hounds have been lying vacant for a few years, after the Andhra Pradesh government vacated them yet to hand them over to the Telangana government. The Telangana government is expected to incur huge expenditure in the coming days to take up the repairs of these buildings and put them up for use again.
