The
Hindu: Hyderabad: Monday, 04 May 2015.
Why were
defence ministry orders not followed, asks Bolarum resident Pankaj Sethi
A resident of
Yapral has moved the High Court seeking relief from Army blockade of roads
wit-hin Bolarum and AOC area, contending that orders from the Ministry of
Defence (MoD) to open these roads had been not been followed.
Bolarum
resident Pankaj Sethi has asked for opening of 15 roads that were closed in
recent years by the Army, citing security concerns.
Mr. Sethi
contended that closed roads were public roads within cantonment area.
Earlier this
year, the MoD had ordered that public roads within the cantonment be opened. If
they have to be closed for security reasons, only cantonment boards have the
authority to do so, following procedure laid out in the Cantonments Act. “The
orders of the ministry were to open all public roads which were closed without
following due procedure or for reasons other than security. These orders were
not heeded, and when I sought to know why, I was told the roads are on defence
lands and cannot be open to public,” Mr. Sethi said.
Mr. Sethi had
sought to know through an RTI query when the roads would be opened as per MoD
orders.
The local
military establishment responded that the roads were internal military roads
and the order did not apply to such roads.
.JPG)
.JPG)
