From 800-Metre To 8-Km Detour, Secunderabad Residents vs Cantonment

Telangana Minister KT Rama Rao has threatened to cut power and water supply if the defence authority continued to take arbitrary decisions harassing citizens

Residents in Telangana's Secunderabad are protesting against closure of 21 roads in the cantonment area. Demanding right of way, the residents said walls have been built across the roads, or barricades and security checks have been put up, blocking their way.

For over seven years now, residents in north and northeast Hyderabad have been protesting what they call alleged illegal closure of 21 roads in Secunderabad Cantonment area by the local military authority. For some, this has led to a detour of 8 km from what used to be an 800-metre commute.

Though the Andhra Pradesh High Court had allowed the closure in September 2014, citing security reasons, subsequently on appeals from the residents, the then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the Army Headquarters in May 2018 had ordered that the roads should be opened.

Yet, the residents say, the local military authority has not complied and even walls have come up, blocking passage. Under the RK Puram ROB or road overbridge, for instance, the service road has been blocked by building a wall and lawns have been extended inside. In Bolarum Golf Course, roads have gone under the extended golf course.