Secunderabad residents slam Army curbs on AOC roads

SECUNDERABAD: The re-imposition of the Army’s restrictions on civilian roads at night, at AOC Circle in Secunderabad Cantonment has attracted a lot of criticism from the people who regularly commute through the route.
Signboards declaring ‘high security alert’ are being installed at Allahabad Gate and Wellington Road stating that entry is restricted between 10 pm and 7 am.

Last year too the local military authority (LMA) had imposed night restrictions between August 14 and 18 on these roads saying that this measure was to prevent any untoward incident during Independence Day.While last year an official communiqué had been issued a day ahead of the restrictions coming into force, there was nothing of that sort this time around, causing inconvenience to lakhs of commuters.
“I was shocked when the Army soldiers suddenly stopped my car, asked me to step out and frisked me, on August 16 night. They checked my car too. When I asked the soldiers why they are frisking me, they said they were only following orders,” a Rakesh, resident of Safilguda, and a daily commuter, to STOI.
With the restrictions in the Cantonment being reimposed, daily commuters say their agony is back again.
“If the Army had issued a notification through the media or made a public announcement in the abutting areas, we would’ve prepared ourselves and planned other routes,” said another commuter, B Shambhavi, who works as staff nurse at a private nursing home.
“Due to some internal fights, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board does not come to the rescue of the commuters,” said S Chandrasekhar, a social activist.
“In view of Independence Day, the curbs were placed on the Cantonment roads for a limited period. That will be removed on the orders of competent authority shortly. The curbs were only for August 15 (Independence Day), that too for security reasons,” highly-placed sources in the defence wing told STOI.
Sources also said that the restrictions are likely to be lifted on Saturday or Sunday night.