SCB ROAD ISSUE TAKEN UP WITH PM

The Secunderabad Cantonment area road closures was taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when Malkajgiri MP C.H. Malla Reddy along with other representatives met him in New Delhi. They submitted a memorandum pertaining to closure of roads and others issues in Secunderabad Cantonment Board. Mr Modi promised to direct Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and find a permanent solution at the earliest.

The representation said the Local Military Authority (LMA) had closed some of the important roads in cantonment and neighbouring municipalities. This led to complications for the people, resulting in waste of time, energy and fuel. LMA even closed some important roads connecting those between two assembly constituencies.

SCB vice-president J. Ramakrishna said most of the closed roads were part the board and repaired and maintained by it. LMA initiated and implemented unilateral and arbitrary decisions of closing the cantonments roads (other than those laying in the units) without following the due process of law and the Cantonments Act 2006.

He said it was contradictory to and bad in the eye of the law and in violation of the provisions of the Section 258 of the Cantonments Act. “The Defence Ministry should direct the LMA to reopen such closed roads and ask them to follow the due course of process/provisions of the Act without any violations,” he added.

Mr Ramakrishna said he had presented the difficulties faced by residents within 500m limits from the defence establishments for obtaining a no-objection certificate from the LMA for all constructions activities.