Restrictions' back in place at Secunderabad Cantonment

Hyderabad: The restrictions put in place on some of the reopened Secunderabad Cantonment roads seem to be back again with residents reporting a series of incidents where they have had to face soldiers to claim their right of way.

In recent incidents, cyclists were denied entry into the Burr Road near the Holy Trinity Church and four wheelers were denied entry to Mornington Road.

The Federation of Northern Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad (FNECS) regularly conducts cycling trips in the northeastern part of the city on Sunday mornings. A few days ago, the cyclists about 15 of them, including children were stopped at Holy Trinity Church and not allowed on to Burr Road. Other vehicles were being allowed after soldiers checked the identity of the drivers. The cyclists protested and pointed out that it was a public road and the ministry of defence had issued orders to reopen all roads to traffic.

However, the sentries remained adamant and blocked the way for the cyclists stating that the road was not meant for civilian exercise.

Mr C.S. Chandrasekhar from FNECS, one of the cyclists, said, “Despite the ministry of defence orders, all the roads were not opened and many restrictions continue to be in place. The Army continues to randomly close the roads and insist on checking identity and blocking entry for some kind of traffic. We demand the unequivocal reopening of all these roads which are public roads.”

Mr S. Anoop Kumar from Open Secunderabad Cantonment All Roads (OSCAR) mentioned that the restrictions were not just limited to asking for identity cards but they were stopped entirely from taking the Mornington Road from one side and entry was given for only one way from the Military Hospital side. 

“When citizens were demanding to see the orders, they were being threatened that their vehicles and phones would be seized and they would be arrested,” he added.