The elected members of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) have begun raking in support for the Telangana government's move to construct a new Secretariat at the Bison Polo Ground.
The SCB is a local municipal authority that comes under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence, and functions as a local self-government.
Owing to the large civilian population in the area, elections are held every five years, and half the members on the board are civilians, while the other half are military nominations.
At present, the elected members are affiliated to the ruling TRS party in the state.
The SCB’s Vice-President J Ramakrishna told media persons that members of the board supported the move, as more attention would be paid to the area.
"There will be better roads, water, and power supply lines, and the cantonment’s solid waste management issues will be solved. We would also earn through service charges provided to the Secretariat,” he was quoted as saying.
Ramakrishna also said that all the eight elected board members would interact with colony associations under their jurisdiction, and campaign in support of the move.
For a few months now, KCR has openly been eyeing the land in Gymkhana Ground and Bison Polo Ground, for constructing a Secretariat, Legislature and a cultural centre on the premises.
He announced that the state government would be taking over the land this week, after a visit to New Delhi, to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley last month.
However, activists are still not satisfied with his claims, and say that there is no need for a new Secretariat in the city.
Congress leaders in the city have also launched a campaign against the state’s recent plan.
KCR also said that the Centre had agreed to transfer defence lands to the state, for construction of flyovers, as part of its Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP).
The SRDP is part of the state's plan to construct multi-layer flyovers over 20 junctions in the city to decongest traffic in Hyderabad.