A fire broke out in the under-construction Secretariat building in Hyderabad early on Friday. No casualties were reported. The new Secretariat building was set to be inaugurated on February 17, which is also the birthday of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. Over 11 firefighting engines were dispatched to the scene and the situation was brought under control. The media was not allowed on the premises. The construction of the Rs 600 crore building was awarded to Kapoorji-Pallonji. The cause of the fire was reportedly due to electrical work and plastic material that caught fire on the ground floor.
At 3 am, the fire started on the ground floor and quickly spread to the other floors. The construction of the Secretariat was considered a prestigious project by KCR and he had been closely monitoring its progress.
State BJP President Bandi Sanjay criticized the poor quality of work and the haste with which the construction was being executed as the cause of the fire. He demanded the inauguration be postponed and held on April 14, on Ambedkar’s birthday instead of KCR’s birthday.
TPCC Chief A Revanth Reddy stated that it is not correct to call the fire an exercise. He requested an all-party delegation to be allowed to visit the site for a fact-finding mission.