In Hyderabad, 14 Cantonment roads remain closed even after the Defense Ministry issued a notice to open all the roads. The Local Military Authority has failed to keep up with the Ministry’s orders.
The Local Military closed a total of 25 roads before the Ministry’s order. However, after the order was released the authorities reopened only 11 of them.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) ordered all the Cantonment roads be reopened to the public. This was a major victory for the residents of Secunderabad who have been fighting the Local Military Authorities’ decision to block several roads.
A press release by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) read, “Based on the meeting convened by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with Members of Parliament and elected Vice Presidents of all 62 Cantonment Boards on May 4, 2018, on the issues relating to Cantonments, a detailed review was undertaken by the Ministry on various issues, in particular, those relating to closure of roads in the Cantonments.”
The press release further added, “Sitharaman has also reviewed the matter with Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, Defence Secretary Shri Sanjay Mitra and senior officers of the Ministry. Based on the review undertaken by Sitharaman, as a first step, the following was decided.”
The statement read, “All closed roads in the cantonments will be reopened immediately. The issue of closure of individual roads will be reviewed de novo, in conformity with the provisions as laid down, and any closure of roads to be undertaken will be done only after following the due procedure.”
The members of the meeting also decided to issue a detailed operation procedure to address the needs of the public and military establishment.
