HYDERABAD: Residents of Secunderabad Cantonment can finally breathe a sigh of relief as the Local Military Authorities (LMA) have begun efforts to reopen four out of the 21 illegally closed roads that have caused major inconvenience to the public for many years.
In accordance with the reopening orders issued by the Ministry of Defence last week, four roads in the golf course area in Secunderabad, including walls at Lakdawala Junction, Ammuguda junction, gates on Protnee Road, and Byam Road at Eagle Chowk, have been opened to the public.
The demolition of walls blocking access to the roads began on Saturday. “It has been our consistent struggle to reopen all these roads, and today we finally see a logical conclusion and get our roads back. We now look upon CEO SCB to make all roads motorable and suitable for high traffic density and also demand for other closed roads to be reopened soon,” said ML Agarwal, president of the Secunderabad Cantonment Citizens’ Welfare Association (SCCiWA).
The Federation of Northeastern Colonies of Secunderabad has stated that the removal of these blockages will reduce the distance between Balaji Nagar, Yapral, and Rajiv Rahadari - Nagpur highway by at least 4 to 5 km.
This will especially benefit students of St Ann’s, Bolarum, Loyola Academy, Valerian Grammar School, Kendriya Vidyalaya Bolarum, and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, among others. Additionally, this reopening will reduce the distance between Sainikpuri, AS Rao, alongside Bolarum, Nagpur Highway, and Shamirpet by at least 3 to 4 km, as traffic will no longer have to go through Lothukunta. This should also decongest the perennially jammed Lothukunta Circle.
This achievement is a result of the efforts of thousands of citizens to restore the public’s right to freedom of movement. Innumerable letters were presented to the authorities, along with protests and agitations.
Protests began in January 2014 against the illegal closure by the Local Military Authority (LMA).
After objections to the closure of already closed roads were submitted, a committee was formed to investigate the matter. After the committee submitted its report to the Ministry of Defense, orders were issued to reopen five out of the six roads.
“Though it remains to be seen when traffic will be fully restored through these roads, the removal of these blockages is a major step towards removing the tremendous inconvenience faced by citizens,” said CS Chandrasekhar, Secretary of the Federation of Northeastern Colonies of Secunderabad.