Hyderabad: Government in bind over Secretariat shrines

HYDERABAD: The state government is in a bind on relocating the Nalla Pochamma temple from the secretariat premises. Not just this, it will also have a lot to explain about shifting a decades old mosque, adjacent to the chief minister’s office block (C block), where employees offer namaz.
Secretariat employees organise festivals—including Bonalu, in a big way—and regular rituals at the Pochamma temple, which was built more than a decade ago.The temple, located diagonally opposite C block, got a facelift in 2012 and occupied a bigger space from the time when it was a small structure during its initial days. Employees, who hold a lot of sentiment with the deity, are keen to protect the temple and plan to meet CM K Chandrasekhar Rao.

“The government is free to demolish blocks and build a new secretariat. But we attach a lot of significance to the temple and its deity. We want the government to retain it at the same spot,” a senior employee said, recalling that previous governments did not shift it and constructed blocks in and around it.
Official sources said the chief minister is believed to have asked senior R&B officials to get the designs prepared for the new blocks without relocating the temple and the mosque. But designers reportedly told the government officials that without demolishing the religious structures, they won’t be able to make good use of the space.
The cabinet sub-committee on the new secretariat headed by roads and buildings minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy is believed to have recommended removal of all religious structures by convincing the employees.
“New secretariat designs and plans have not been finalised yet. The chief minister will take a call on the designs and religious structures,” Sunil Sharma, principal secretary, R&B, told TOI.