HYDERABAD: Citizens staying in Secunderabad Cantonment limits and north-eastern colonies of Secunderabad are shocked with the report submitted in both Houses of the Parliament by the Standing Committee on Defence (2017-18).
They feel that they have been severely let down by the Secunderabad Cantonment Board on the roads’ closure issue.
The Standing Committee on Defence submitted its fortieth report in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. It touched about inconvenience to civilian population in various Cantonments in its report. The committee expressed its displeasure over incidents of high-handedness of Cantonment Board officials and security personnel relating to the closure of entry and exit of passages inside the Cantonments.
Keeping in view the public inconvenience due to the arbitrary closure of Cantonment roads by Local Military Authority without following Section 258 of Cantonment Act, the Director General of Defence Estates (DGDE) has obtained a list of such public roads and initiated due action by the Army headquarters.
Nearly one-sixth of the city’s population use the Cantonment roads on a daily basis. Secunderabad Cantonment did not figure in this affected roads’ list and therefore no action was taken by Army HQ to re-open them. This has brought to the fore the role of Cantonment Administration.
According to SCB vice-president J. Ramakrishna, a communication was sent during the previous CEO’s tenure to the DGDE on the roads’ closure issue. He said that roads were closed in the Cantonment limits without following correct procedures.
Cantonment sources stated that the SCB top brass had written two letters, one in November 2014 and the next in February 2015. In reply to the first letter that was sent to SCB on November 3, 2014, it was stated that Section 258 had to be followed before closing or restricting roads in view of public using them from the beginning. It may be recalled that MoD (ministry of defence) had given orders to all Cantonments to reopen roads that were closed without following Section 258 that states public opinion has to be sought on the issue among other things. SCB was asked to send its compliance report.
In a letter sent on February 5, 2015, the then SCB CEO wrote that a copy of MoD orders of January 7, 2015 was sent to GOC, Andhra sub-area for compliance.
“The matter was also brought to the notice of Cantonment Board president through an official note. No response was received thereafter. It is noticed that, though none of the roads are permanently closed, night restrictions are continued. However, it was verbally informed to the undersigned by the LMA that their office had submitted a report stating that the roads proposed to be closed in Secunderabad Cantonment are all inside the unit lines and therefore MoD orders were not applicable,”read the contents of the letter.
Pankaj Sethi from the Federation of North Eastern Colonies, that is fighting for the re-opening of the closed roads felt that the Cantonment’s wavering stand had seriously dented the chances of the opening of the roads. “One-sixth of the city's population is unhappy and is facing difficulties with this road closure for the last five years, he said. ”
Neither were procedures followed in closure of roads nor was MoD's order that all cantonments should reopen roads closed arbitrarily, taken seriously by Secunderabad Cantonment administration. Therefore, citizens are still suffering."
