Secunderabad Cantonment Board continues toll collection despite Centre declaring Cantonment roads public

HYDERABAD: Collection of toll by Secunderabad Cantonment Board continues unabated despite the Defence Ministry order making cantonment roads public. This despite the Local Military Authority (LMA) opening 11 out of 25 roads to public. The Defence Ministry, in May, ordered the opening of all roads across 62 cantonments in the country.  However, members of the LMA are yet to open all the roads, 14 of these roads have been barricaded and permanent walls have been constructed over some of them, affecting the mobility of people living in that locality.

Residents have been demanding these restrictions to be lifted from the 11 roads and also open the others as it will cut their commuting time.“We have certain rules which mandate collection of taxes from commercial vehicles entering and leaving the cantonment. There are 26 toll tax collection centres under cantonment area. In a recently held board meeting, elected members and SCB officials decided to approach the General-Officer-Commanding (GOC), Telangana and Andhra Sub Area (TASA) to seek reopening of 14 of the 25 roads that remain closed to civilians in the Cantonment area.” said J Rama Krishna, vice president, SCB. 

Residents rue that as the SCB has been collecting toll tax on certain roads since 1965, it should now focus on reopening other roads. They allege that the SCB is only interested in making money through taxes. Meanwhile, C S Chandra Shekar from the Federation of Northeastern Colonies of Secunderabad (FNCS) said that the AOC Unit lines roads are closed with barricades and walls have not been removed and civilians are demanding that these roads should be reopened immediately by LMA.