HYDERABAD: While the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has taken up the anti-encroachment drive in several parts in the city, Secunderabad Cantonment Board is yet to do anything similar. The GHMC’s drive has been ongoing for over a fortnight now and it has forced SCB residents to ask as to why they were not seeing something similar in their area. A majority of the footpaths in the Secunderabad Cantonment area are fully or partially encroached by hawkers, vendors, and shopkeepers, putting the life of pedestrians in jeopardy.
N Venkata Ramana, a resident of Tirumelghery lamented about the lack of footpaths between Paradise and Tirumalghery. “Unlike GHMC, SCB does not have special teams to demolish illegal encroachments. We have made several representations but nothing has happened yet,” he said. Residents say that since roads in SCB are interconnected with the National Highway network, there was a higher risk of accidents compared to other areas.
S Chandrasekhar, spokesperson of Open Secunderabad Cantonment All Roads (OSCAR) wondered that if the GHMC could conduct an anti-encroachment drive, why the SCB could not.
When contacted, Devender, superintendent of the Sanitation Department in SCB, admitted that there was a lack of footpaths in the Cantonment area. “Earlier we passed a resolution in a board meeting to arrange a separate ‘Thai Bazaar’ vendors operating on footpaths. These bazaars were supposed to be set up in all eight wards. However, we have not been able to implement this plan. Coming to the main issue, we a special drive on footpath encroachers soon and demolish the illegal structures in the Cantonment area,” he added.