Secretariat to get a green boost

The newly constructed interim Secretariat at Velagapudi is rapidly changing its appearance. Thanks to the initiative of Capital Region Development Authority(CRDA), which has taken measures on a war footing to make the Secretariat as green house, huge green lawns with beautiful gardens and a huge water fountain are coming up, which will be a feast for the eyes for not only the employees but also the visitors.

The interim Secretariat at Velagapudi which was lacking any greenery or trees was considered as a desert by many, and even the employees feared to come out from the centralised air-conditioned buildings because of scorching heat conditions in the area. But, the greenery being developed in front of the Secretariat buildings are giving much relief to them as the climatic condition is also gradually turning favourable.

“We are developing greenery in an extent of eight acres of land in the premises of Secretariat buildings. We are developing green lawns and gardens with 365 varieties of flower plants where most of the flowers will be fragrance oriented. There is vast open land in front of the Secretariat building which we are converting into green fields. Even at the vehicle parking place we are planting trees and developing green lawns for the benefit of visitors and drivers who can relax there.

As the Assembly buildings are also adjacent to Secretariat buildings we`re focusing on developing more green lawns and gardens, where the staff can take rest. We are mostly using drip irrigation system where there is no need to depend on irrigation pipelines,” said S Subbarao, contractor belonging to Green Cross Agri Clinic Ltd., which is entrusted with developing the greenery at Secretariat.

Following the instructions of Cherukuri Sridhar, CRDA Commissioner and under the guidance of A. Srinivasulu, CRDA Additional Director for Landscape and Environment Division, we have taken it as a prestigious project in open tender system, he said. The company, which has also taken the responsibility of developing greenery along the Gannavaram Airport to highway centre at Yenikepadu near Vijayawada, is considering it as a privilege to get such a great opportunity to develop greenery in the Secretariat premises.

In addition to this a huge water fountain which is also coming up in front of Secretariat buildings is going to become an attraction for the viewers. A 14-ft tall beautifully designed stone carving in black granite with 16 nozzles beside it will shower water up to 16ft height. And 132 small nozzles spray water from the outer side where there are 50 lights were fixed which flashes 8 colours.

The water fountain, apart from its colourful impact, will cool the weather at the Secretariat, said Mukesh Jain, the representative of Stone Gallery, Hyderabad, which was entrusted with designing and developing the water fountain.

By T Sudhakar