Cantonment roads to remain open for public for one month

Roads in Cantonment areas would remain open for public for the next one month and the Army will take a call thereafter whether to continue with the move depending on what feedback it gets from all the stakeholders for the month-long exercise.

The Army’s move on Monday comes a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured that the decision to open roads for civilians in military cantonments will be reviewed following protest by several Army wives citing security issues.

There as 70 Army cantonments in the country. The decision to open the roads was taken last week after representations from MPs and cantonment board representatives.

Clarifying its position, the Army said some roads were unilaterally kept closed for very long periods and a review was essential. A number of iterations were carried out with all stake holders where views expressed by all concerned were deliberated upon.

After giving due thought to the likely implications on the opening of roads, a considered decision was taken to open roads in military areas for one month and thereafter review the nature of traffic passing through these areas. Decision on opening or closure of roads will be taken after a feedback from Local Military Authorities (LMA) on whether roads can be opened for civil traffic, completely, selectively or as in the past.

There seems to be some apprehension in the minds of military personnel and their families that the opening of roads may lead to a security situation or traffic congestion.  It is clarified that this is a deliberate, calibrated and monitored exercise.

The aim of opening roads in Cantonments is to streamline the process of closure where required after carrying out assessment of the nature of traffic moving through Cantonments by following due procedure.

A freehand has been given to the LMA to close and control access to the Cantonments when there is actionable intelligence input or in case of emergencies.  A simplified procedure will shortly be issued to jointly address the needs of the local public and the military establishment, officials said.

They also said some good public schools and Army Public School also exist in Cantonments.  Children from civilian background are studying in these schools and cannot be denied access. Hence, a large number of roads have remained open to civilian traffic, even before the orders for opening other roads were promulgated. Therefore, access to additional areas within Cantonments has now been allowed.