Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao today hoisted the National Flag tied to a 291-ft tall mast on the occasion of state’s second formation day.
The flag was hoisted at the Sanjivayya Park here overlooking the picturesque Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of the city.
The unfurling of the flag is part of the elaborate celebrations undertaken by the state government on the occasion of the state formation day.
Telangana came into existence on this day in 2014 as per the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act. The Act was passed, amid unprecedented scenes, in parliament following a decades-old struggle for separate state.
All the government offices, including state secretariat
and Legislative Assembly, and public spaces were illuminated and colourfully decorated as part of the celebrations.
The state government allocated special funds to celebrate the occasion in all the districts of the state.
Rao paid tributes to ‘Telangana martyrs’ (those sacrificed their lives for separate state) and also laid foundation stone for a Telangana Martyr’s memorial in the morning.
Later, he participated in the main official function to celebrate the formation at the Parade Ground here. He unfurled the National Flag and inspected the parade.
Speaking on the occasion, Rao said new districts in the state will come into existence from the Dasara festival this year. The government has undertaken a study for the purpose.
There are 10 districts at present in the state.
Rao, who spoke at length on the various welfare and development schemes being implemented, said the government undertook re-designing of irrigation projects for deriving optimum benefits.
The work on Palamuru lift irrigation scheme and Kaleswaram projects have begun. The projects would mostly be completed by 2022, he said.
Though the state is receiving cooperation from Maharashtra and Karnataka in building irrigation projects, the Andhra Pradesh government is creating hurdles, he alleged.
Under the ‘Mission Bhagiratha’ project of providing piped drinking water to every household, 6100 villages would get water by this year-end, he said.
He said 90 per cent of villages would get purified water by the end of next year.
Rao also talked about welfare schemes like enhanced
social security pensions, providing fine quality rice to students of social security hostels, among others.
The industrial policy of TS-iPASS, giving licences in 15 days through a single window, helped in attracting an investment of Rs 24,698 crores, he said.
Noting that top IT companies like Infosys, Wipro are expanding their activities in Hyderabad, he said Apple has started its technology mapping and development centre in the city recently.