Two days after orders issued, roads still closed

For the second consecutive day, morning walkers from West Marredpally had to quarrel with soldiers to enter Wellington Road for their morning walk on Thursday, exposing the apparent lack of coordination between the Local Military Authority and the soldiers.

A resident complained that they were denied access through Wellington Road before 7 am. The soldiers allowed access to walkers with ID cards even when night restrictions are on.

The night restrictions have been relaxed but walkers without ID cards are being blocked, he said.

Meanwhile, a purported press release without an official header made the rounds on social media.

It read, “The directions of the Defence Ministry to reopen roads are not for an indefinite period and is likely to be reviewed. The reopening of roads has increased the threat to military establishments by making it susceptible to sabotage, trespassing, stand-alone attacks, thefts, over speeding, accidents (sic).”

When this newspaper contacted the AOC, an official said it was not released by the Army.

Even after the orders from the defence ministry to open all roads in the cantonment, about half of them remained closed on Thursday.

Out of 21 roads, only 11 had been opened so far — Rajender Sinhji road, Golf Course Road, Balajinagar Road, Puri Singh Marg, Surender Marg, Flagstaff Road, Cariappa Road, Gough Road, Mornington Road, Wellington Road, Ordnance Road, Entrenchment Road.

Mr Pankaj Sethi, a resident of Yapral, said the LMA had not opened many roads and were not saying anyting.

“The LMA should announce about it is doing. If they have restrictions regarding some roads, they should let us know. We consider that it is their responsibility to inform us. We are left without any information at all.”

Secunderabad Cantonment Board vice-president J. Rama Krishna said it was a gap in coordination. “Within a week, all the roads will be open with full access to civilians. The orders are very clear from the higher officials,” he said.