Reopen all roads in Secunderabad Cantonment to public, FNECS reiterates demand

FNECS reiterated its demand that all public roads passing through the Secunderabad Cantonment be reopened to all traffic as and when the merger of civilian areas with the GHMC takes place.

Hyderabad: The Federation of North Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad (FNECS) reiterated its demand that all public roads passing through the Secunderabad Cantonment be reopened to all traffic as and when the merger of civilian areas with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) takes place.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, the FNECS said that since the ongoing merger exercise contemplates merging ‘civilian areas’ of Cantonment with the GHMC, and since public roads are meant for civilian use, all roads recorded in the General Land Register as either “A1” or “C”, and assigned Survey Nos different from the Survey Nos assigned to adjoining land parcels, be brought under GHMC jurisdiction. It also wanted these roads to be improved to the same modern standards as are in the rest of the city.

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Citing responses to a RTI query, the Federation said the information in the form of three notes, exchanged between Integrated Head Quarters of Indian Army (AHQ) and Ministry of Defence (MOD), have a bearing on its demand for transferring all public roads in cantonment to GHMC.

The first note, issued by AHQ in October 2021, directed all Commands to close “A1” roads in cantonments for public use. In its response, the MOD advised AHQ to keep in abeyance its directions to LMA not to allow “A1” roads for public use while in the third note in April 2022, AHQ confirmed that it had directed all commands to keep its directions not to allow public use of on “A1” roads, in abeyance.

Many of the closed roads in Secunderabad Cantonment are classed as “A1”, and assigned survey numbers different from adjoining land parcels. In other words, these roads are acknowledged to be roads on which public have right of way. The remaining closed roads are classed as “C” – under Cantonment Board – and therefore also roads on which public have right of way.

If civilian areas of Cantonment are merged with GHMC, the FNECS said, it is possible that the remaining areas (“A1”) may get converted into Military Stations. “What will then happen to the roads passing through these areas? If the AHQ Note of 20.10.2021 is any indication, there may again be attempts to close these roads for public use, claiming that these roads pass through Military Stations,” it said.