Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) Vice-President J Rama Krishna on Sunday demanded that the Local Military Authority (LMA) reopen the closed roads and said that it would even approach the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
The SCB VP was speaking at a meeting of representatives of the All Cantonments Citizens’ Welfare Association (ACCIWA), which convened at Secunderabad Club on Sunday.
Rama Krishna said that the MoD had given clear instructions to reopen all civilian roads and then follow procedure if they wanted to close it, which the LMA was not implementing.
“LMA is putting up barriers on the roads that were opened recently. The LMA has not discussed the issue of barriers in the SCB meeting,” Rama Krishna was quoted as saying.
The ACCIWA meet discussed issues that cantonments across the country faced, while reopening the closed roads.
Demanding that all 850 roads in the 62 cantonments areas be reopened to civilian traffic, the ACCIWA pointed out that 14 of the 25 roads in Secunderabad still remained shut.
Last week, a Security Convergence Meeting was held in Secunderabad between the LMA and the Telangana State Police.
The meeting was chaired by Telangana and Andhra Sub-Area General Officer Commanding Major General N Srinivas Rao and state Director General of Police (DGP) M Mahender Reddy.
Stating that security was a big concern, Major General Rao mentioned the highways next to the cantonment in Bowenpally. He also pointed out that there was a large population of civilians in and around Secunderabad cantonment, which would further increase the security threat.
Background
Secunderabad cantonment is a densely populated area with 4 lakh civilians living inside it and another 6 lakh living in the areas abutting it.
The closure of roads affected several residents living in adjoining areas such as Marredpally, Neredmet, Safilguda, Sainikpuri, Ammuguda and Yapral, among several others, impacting almost 10 lakh citizens.
Citizens have been up in arms as the LMA, over a period of time, shut 25 roads in the area. Some of these included arterial roads that turned even an 800-metre ride into an 8-km detour.
Out of the 25 roads, civilians say that only the following roads have been open to the public fully or partially:
Rajendra Sinhji Road (Amherst Road), Hakimpet – Cantonment Garden Road, Golf Course – Balaji Nagar Road, Puri Singh Marg, Cariappa Road, FEL Circle – Rajiv Rahadari Road, FEL Circle – Lal Bazar Road, Gough Road, Mornington Road (Western part open from SH1 to Gough Road), Wellington Road, Ordinance Road and Entrenchment Road.
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