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Govt forms panel to merge cantonment with GHMC
The committee will look into “land and immovable assets, Cantonment Board employees/pensioners, Cantonment funds, civic services, movable properties and stores, road management and traffic and records”, the communication said
Hyderabad
The Union defence ministry on Wednesday announced separation of civilian areas from the Secunderabad Cantonment and their merger with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, a long-pending demand of the Telangana government.
In a communication sent to the state government on Wednesday giving its approval for the excision of civil areas from the cantonment, the defence ministry said a committee was being formed to work out the modalities for the same.
The committee will comprise joint secretary (finance), who will act as chairman of the committee, along with joint secretary (lands and works) of MoD, additional director general (Cantonments), director general defence estates (DGD), additional DG (land, works and environment), from the Army headquarters in Delhi, secretary of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) from Telangana, director of Defence Estates (Southern Command, Pune, since SCB falls under this command) and president of the Cantonment Board as members.
The chief executive officer of Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) will be the member secretary of the committee.
The committee will look into “land and immovable assets, Cantonment Board employees/pensioners, Cantonment funds, civic services, movable properties and stores, road management and traffic and records”, the communication said.
Welcoming the Centre’s decision, Telangana minister for municipal administration and urban development K T Rama Rao said the state government had been demanding the merger of Secunderabad Cantonment with the GHMC.
“We have been demanding the merger of Sec’bad Cantonment into GHMC for a long time This will help the Telangana Govt in taking forward SRDP & other infra projects expeditiously It is the Union Govt’s adamant refusal to part with land that held up proposed skyways for over 7 yrs (sic),” KTR tweeted.
Bharat Rasthra Samithi spokesman Manne Krishank alleged that all these years, the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were strongly opposing the merger of the cantonment with the GHMC.
“It was @KTRTRS who initiated the need for merger when BJP mocked. The merger of cantonment into the GHMC will be a relief for people… the impossible is all set to happen. Thank you KTR!” he tweeted.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Secunderabad MP and Union Minister for Culture G Kishan Reddy welcomed the decision. He said it would help the state and central governments take up the development works in the areas.
According to SCB officials, the Cantonment area will not merge with the GHMC.
All the state governments have received proposals from the ministry of defence on the merger and its modalities. However, it has been determined that only some civilian areas were recommended for merger. “The state government is under the wrong perception that the entire SCB will be merged and the proposal is made only for the civic amenities,” said an SCB official requesting anonymity.
The Cantonment residents have been affected by the state government’s lack of involvement in developing the Cantonment area, said J Ramakrishna, SCB vice-president.
The SCB had been repeatedly requesting the State government to implement the welfare programmes not just in GHMC limits but also in Cantonment areas too, he said, adding that the state government was ignoring the SCB pleas. “Why is the state government ignoring the pathetic road conditions in Cantonment areas? Why is that the Cantonment areas always experiencing acute water problem,” he asked.
Even if the merger takes place, the Cantonment Board will still retain the employees. Even if something takes shape, the full formation will take 20 years, said officials. “The staff would serve the Board if the merger took place because it would only affect 10 to 15 percent of the SCB’s territory and 90 percent of the SCB would still be functioning,” said an official.
Rama Krishna claimed that the state government had been overenthusiastic about the SCB merger with GHMC due to its hunger to usurp lands in Cantonment areas. “The state government’s will be extremely astonished once they learn the actual quantity of land that is intended to be merged,” he said.
Another official said that the Army has provided an area for alternate roads. It is the state government’s duty to develop infrastructure there. “Why don’t they do something?The state government repeatedly asserts neither the Union government nor the ministry of defence supports it. The Union government and the ministry of defence have both given its approval to all of the state government’s proposals. It is the state government that is not living up to its words,” said the SCB official.
