SCB ward poll aspirants ignore Army traffic ban

Hyderabad: Secunderabad Cantonment’s burning issue, the restriction of civilian traffic and blocking of routes to many establishments, is not on the agenda of ward members standing for Board elections, especially at Bowenpally, Marredpally, Mahindra Hills, Bollarum and Trimulgherry. 

The ward members campaigning for the January 11 Board elections have so far not uttered a word on the traffic ban. Out of the 2.17 lakh population, (80,000 households), 1 lakh will be directly affected once the total ban is imposed.

The Army has announced closure of Gough Road (the road ahead of Army School, R.K. Puram to AOC swimming pool) and Wellington Road (road from Secunderabad Club to AOC Swimming pool), which will affect free flow of Ward 5 (West Marredpally and Trimulgherry) traffic.

Advocate G. Abel said, “According to the 2000 Cantonment Act, all powers are vested with the SCB CEO and few with the elected Board members. The elected members are not qualified to fight the Army. The elections are taking place even without the revision of wards. Cantonment boundaries are not fixed. The SCB claims that most of the land belongs to the Central government while only B2 is of state government patta land. The civilian representative lack knowledge on powers.”

“There is no green channel for building permission, an application takes more than a year to be approved. Thadbun, the biggest ward, does not have proper roads despite members being allotted Rs 2 crore annually for development," said R. Ravindra, resident of Ward 6.  Residents want a single window system in the building by-laws for ground plus-2 structures; the SCB hasn’t yet cleared applications submitted two years ago.