MoD asks LMA if due norms followed

​Hyderabad: In a major development, the Directorate General Defence Estate of the Union Ministry of Defence (MoD) has written to the Secunderabad Cantonment Board to submit a report whether due procedure was followed before sealing the roads in Secunderabad Cantonment area before May 10.

The same letter was also sent to Principal Directors of Defence Estates in Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern, Western Command, Lucknow, Kolkata, Jammu, Pune and Chandigarh, seeking reply by May 10, 2018 if due procedure was followed (completely or partially).

The action followed after MPs of all cantonments and vice-presidents of respective cantonments called on the Defence Minister on May 4 to put forth the grievances and issues of local residents in the wake of road closures. For more than four years, Resident Welfare Associations (RWA) have been raising the issue of road closure.

They allege that the Local Military Authority (LMA) has not followed the Section 258 of the Cantonments Act 2006, which says it has no statutory power to close the roads and needs to seek public opinion before doing so. The letter from the MoD is being seen as a positive sign among locals. C S Chandrashekar of Federation of North Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad (FNECS) says, “In reply to the RTI, the Defence Estates Officer mentioned that all the 26 roads are either A1 roads or ‘C’ category roads.

The public have a right of way as per the Cantonment Land Administration Rules (CLAR) but the Local Military Authority has not followed the rules and started closing one road after the other.” The letter sent to the SCB CEO states that in most cases, where roads on A1 land have been closed, the LMA generally terms those as ‘Unit Line Roads.’ And, it needs to be ascertained by the CEOs of cantonments whether they are indeed Unit Line Roads.

S Chandrashekar, a representative of the Open Secunderabad Cantonment All Roads (OSCAR) campaign, said, “After the court’s order dated January 7, 2015, Mathura and Allahabad cantonments reopened the roads but the SCB did not. It is tantamount to disobeying the court orders.”

Road closure saga
On November 3, 2014, Malkajgiri MP Ch Malla Reddy wrote to PGDE that the roads be opened as per the provisions of the Cantonment Act On January 7, 2015, the Ministry of Defence issued orders to cantonments to reopen closed roads and Mathura and Allahabad cantonments reopened the roads The LMA in Secunderabad Cantonment insists that the closed roads are ‘Unit Lines’ In a reply ton RTI Act, the DEO stated that the roads in the Cantonment were A1 roads or ‘C’ category roads. May 7, 2018, the MoD instructed all the cantonments to reply by May 10, 2018 if due procedure was followed before closing the roads.