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Road Closure in Secunderabad Cantonment
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(OPEN SECUNDERABAD CANTONMENT AREA ROADS)
The Problem
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• Several roads in Secunderabad Cantonment have been closed by Local Military Authorities (LMA). More roads are regularly being closed • East-west connectivity is badly affected for the northeastern areas of the city. Number of available east-west links in the Parade Ground – Hakimpet corridor has dropped from 7 to 2 • Access from northeastern suburbs to the main city is also badly affected • Load on existing junctions such as Trimulgherry, Lothkunta has increased several fold • 3 of the 18 circles of GHMC – Alwal, Kapra and Malkajgiri are severely affected • Right to Freedom of Movement guaranteed by Article 19(1)(d) of the Constitution, and by Article 13(1) of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights is infringed
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The affected area (in relation to the city) SH1 – TO KARIMNAGAR Hakimpet Lakdawala Jn
RADIAL RD 14 Rajiv Rahadari
Kowkoor
CANTONMENT Hanuman Temple
Yapral
Lothkunta
Balaji Nagar
RADIAL RD 15 RadhikaYadgarpally
Dammaiguda
Nagaram Phule Statue Trimulgherry
Radhika
ECIL X Roads
Safilguda RS Secbad Club
AOC Circle
Coca Cola Factory
Marredpally
Rail Nilayam
INNER RING ROAD
Blocked routes Tarnaka
Open routes Radial Roads
RADIAL RD 16 Tarnaka-Keesara
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Map of closed roads in Yapral/Bolarum area APPROX 3.5 KM “A”: Valerian School “B”: Lakdawala junction
B A
Distance from “A” to “B” before closure: 800 metres Distance from “A” to “B” after closure: 8 kilometres!!
Event Timeline
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Sept 2014 • Hyderabad HC permits army authorities to close/restrict 9 roads, including some roads which had already been closed by army as on the date of the judgment. People protest. Jan 2015 • Ministry of Defence (MOD) issues Letter No 4(2)/2015D(QSoC) on 07.01.2015, 3 months after Hyderabad HC judgment. • This letter states that under Cantonments Act 2006 only a Cantonment Board has power to close streets in a cantonment, and that too, for security reasons only, and after following the procedure given in Sec 258 of the Act. • The letter orders that public roads in cantonments, outside unit lines, which were closed by anyone other than Cantonment Board, or where Sec 258 was not followed, be reopened.
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Event Timeline .. Contd. Other cantonments note the MOD orders in their Board Meetings and act upon them as instructed by DGDE and PDDE. This can be seen from the Minutes of their Board Meetings Kanpur Cantonment Board opens several roads, including those on A1 land, citing MOD orders (Refer Minutes of Kanpur Cantonment Board Meeting dated 13 Jan 2015) But in Secunderabad, there are no Minutes of any Cantonment Board meeting which indicate that the MOD order was even noted by and acted upon by the Board as instructed by DGDE and PDDE
Event Timeline … Contd.
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May 2015 ● LMA in Mathura refers a case of proposed road closure to Cantonment Board. Citing MOD letter of 7 Jan 2015 and following Section 258 procedure, Mathura Cantonment Board invites public objections, consults civil authorities, and ultimately refuses to allow the road to be closed (Refer Minutes of Board Meeting dated 23 May 2015) Nov 2015 ● Allahabad HC passes judgments in 2 cases of road closure/restriction. Court cites 7th Jan 2015 MOD orders and directs reopening of roads (WP18086 & 38989/2014). ● In Secunderabad, citizens bring 7th Jan 2015 MOD orders and Allahabad HC judgments to the notice of elected Board members of SCB.
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Event Timeline … Contd. Jan 2016 • Cantonment MLA is quoted in news media as saying that the MOD orders were kept under wraps by SCB. • SCB Vice President (an elected member) is quoted as saying that based on SCB President's orders, SCB CEO kept the MOD orders aside. Feb 2016 • Elected board members again try to raise the matter in a Board Meeting of SCB. They are again not allowed to do so.
The present position
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No reasonable “alternate roads” are available (or possible without crossing cantonment) for residents of Kowkoor, Balaji Nagar, Yapral to reach Rajiv Rahadari, BSNL Cantonment Exchange, St Anns Bolarum, Municipal Hospital Alwal, GHMC office Alwal, or RTA Office Medchal, etc. Many roads through cantonment are closed or restricted, and more roads are being closed by LMA on a regular basis All these roads have been public roads ever since they were constructed The army “establishments” abutting the closed roads are only golf course, RSI club, training establishments, residences, etc. Each of these has its own boundary.
The position .. Contd.
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As per Law (Cantonments Act 2006), the only authority which may close a road in a cantonment is the Board – that too after following the prescribed procedure. This has also been clarified by the MOD letter, which came 3 months AFTER the Hyderabad HC orders. It has been upheld by Allahabad High Court, and the MOD letter is being followed in other cantonments MLA and elected board members say the MOD orders seem to have been suppressed and not placed before the Board. Now that the elected board members wish to discuss the matter, they are not being allowed to do so
Citizen's demands
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• SCB must act as per Law and in line with MOD orders, to reopen all roads and remove night restrictions • Existing roads must be widened to 60 feet in golf course area and 80-100 feet in AOC area. Dividers and footpaths must be constructed, and LED lighting installed. • Underpasses/overbridges may be built for crossing over where required. • For enhanced security, height of premises boundary walls may be increased where required. CCTV surveillance may also be introduced. • There must not be any more road closures, night restrictions, etc. in future. • All political parties and citizen movements must support the above demands, as otherwise the development of almost one sixth of the city is affected.
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THANK YOU