The Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao, in a letter to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, has appealed for the removal of unauthorised roadblocks in the Secunderabad Cantonment area.
Adding to their woes was the COVID-19 lockdown, which caused fresh trouble for the residents of Secunderabad and the Local Military Authority (LMA). They alleged that the Army has blocked the road and closed it down despite instructions from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that they must remain open.
Mr. Rao had requested Rajnath Singh to intervene and to further instruct the local authorities not to indulge in such closures of roads without following the SOP (standard operating procedure) and without having the necessary authorisation from the concerned authorities in respect of all the roads in Secunderabad Cantonment.
“I feel compelled to bring to your kind notice about the plight of more than a couple of million citizens living in North and North-Eastern parts of Hyderabad, the State Capital, on account of frequent road blockades and often without any justifiable reasons by the Local Military Authorities of the Secunderabad Cantonment area,” the IT Minister said in his open letter, further adding that the local military authorities resort to regulating the traffic at their will on certain roads, which are otherwise the ‘lifeline’ to these parts being the only connecting road, causing untold misery and hardship to the local citizens.
“Frequent and mostly sudden and unannounced closure of these important roads such as AOC roads, Gough Road on previous occasions has resulted in widespread resentment among the citizens,” he added.
The Ministry of Defence has now issued a “Standard Protocol”, which is to be followed by the Local Military Authorities in initiating the process for the closing of roads following the provisions of the Cantonment Act, 2006, duly factoring in the “emergent security needs” of the army.
“Lakhs of commuters from localities like Yapral, Kowkur, Bollarum, Trimulgherry using the roads either to go to workplaces or residences have faced much hardship. It was illogical to try to stop the spread of the pandemic by closing public roads. Residents had been forced to take long detours at a time when public transport is not available. One can also imagine the tragedies that can occur during medical emergencies if such road blockades are allowed. The irony is that such a block is initiated unilaterally without following the established procedure and disregarding the public interest. This has simply aggravated the discomfort of the Citizens during the period of Pandemic”, he said, adding that there are about 25 public roads in the Secunderabad Cantonment Area which are prone to such arbitrary closures for traffic.
Further, the elected Council of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB), as contemplated under Section 258 of Cantonment Act 2006 may also be consulted and taken into confidence for the closure of a public street, the minister concluded.
