Telangana government starts talks on SCB Road

Hyderabad: The state government has finally stepped in to find a permanent solution to the Gough Road closure in Secunderabad Cantonment area.

The government is facing the heat of residents of SCB who are strongly opposing the frequent threats and road closure notices issued by military officials.

Chief secretary S.K. Joshi on Friday held a meeting with the committee comprising of defence and civil officials at Secretariat and has set a deadline of 15 days to submit alignment proposals for construction of flyovers and roads as an alternative to Gough Road.

The state government sought six month time to keep Gough Road open till alternate roads are worked out. However, the defence officials remained non-committal on this but assured to look into the issue.

Telangana and Andhra sub-area general officer Commanding Major General N. Srinivasa Rao, municipal principal secretary Arvind Kumar, R&B principal secretary Sunil Sharma, Medchal district collector M.V. Reddy, GHMC Commissioner B. Janardhan Reddy besides senior officials from revenue and municipal departments were present in the meeting.

Mr Joshi said that the GHMC had already prepared certain alternate road proposals for Gough Road and has asked the committee to examine them keeping in mind the land acquisition and funds required.

The CS has also constituted a committee to deal with Jawaharnagar Field Firing Range, which will comprise of Medchal joint collector, defence estates officer and HMDA chief general manager. Mr Joshi instructed the committee to take up field level verification to devise the layout keeping in view the Outer Ring Road guidelines and security issues.

However, the CS sought an extension for six more months to enable state government to ready alternate roads for civilians by then.

Meanwhile, The Fede-ration of North Eastern Colonies of Secunderabad strongly demanded that the state government and defence officials stop playing with the lawn regarding the matter of road closure. All road closures so far, and also the proposed closure of further roads by military authorities, are illegal as they have not been done as per the provisions of Cantonments Act 2006, it said.

“On humanitarian grounds also, these road closures are unacceptable as they affect the daily routine of lakhs of people and impose financial, mental and physical costs on them without any fault of theirs. No security threat can justify the permanent closure of tens of kilometres of roads in the heart of the country’s 5th largest metropolis which were in continuous use by the public continuously for over a century, ripping apart connectivity for the public,” it stated.