Hyderabad: After confiscating road-laying vehicles and lorries, the Army on Friday stopped drainage work at Kowkoor village, asking workers not to carry out any development works in the area.
Though the Army personnel had handed over the confiscated vehicles to the Roads and Buildings department on Thursday, the Army has been stopping works in the area claiming it to be ‘defence land.’
The Army wants the state government department to approach the Defence Estate Officer (DEO) and carry out a joint survey to identify civil and defence lands.
The Army has acquired 20 acre of land outside the Cantonment for a firing range and is refusing to permit the state government to carry out works there.
S. Sudershan, a local from Kowkoor villages, said, “On Friday, few Army jawans came to the site at Kowkoor village and asked the workers to stop the drainage work being carried out there; they were asked to leave immediately. The work was stopped by force… Earlier, the panchayat had not allocated any budget for the development of the village, but after the merging of surrounding municipalities with the MCH, a four-lane road is being laid and drainage works are being carried out.”
Kowkoor falls under the Malkajgiri Assembly jurisdiction, adjacent to the Army establishments. The stretch connecting Sainikpuri to Shamirpet village is used by nearly 2 lakh commuters per day. This road is being linked to the Outer Ring Road in phase III. These roads belong to the Roads and Building department of the state government.
Locals at Kowkoor village claim that the land is patta land, but in recent times, the Army has been being sending jawans to question the locals regarding NOCs.
As per a top defence official, the Army has acquired 20 acre of land outside the Cantonment area for a firing range and wants the state government to conduct a joint survey to demarcate civilian and defence land.
