The merger of Secunderabad Cantonment with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is likely to face further delays. This is primarily due to ongoing uncertainty over the ownership of properties within the cantonment. A similar issue has already caused a halt in the merger of Khadki and Pune Cantonment Boards into the Pune Municipal Corporation.
Local residents in Secunderabad have expressed concerns, pointing out that the dispute over property ownership in the Pune Cantonment has already stalled the merger process there, despite the Central government outlining the procedure. The municipal corporation insists that lands and assets within cantonment limits must be transferred to its jurisdiction. A recent letter from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to Dehradun Cantonment, which follows the same set of guidelines issued to Secunderabad Cantonment earlier this year, has added to the confusion among civilian residents.
Sources indicate that while other cantonments across India are seeing progress in their respective mergers, there has been little movement in Secunderabad. The Ministry of Defence had announced in June that civilian areas of Secunderabad Cantonment would be integrated into the GHMC, but there has been no further progress. The final report, which is expected to detail how much land will be handed over to GHMC, is still pending. This lack of clarity is causing confusion, especially as other cantonments are moving forward at a faster pace.
Some locals have pointed out that the situation in Secunderabad Cantonment is different from that in Pune. In Secunderabad, 90% of the land in civilian areas belongs to the state government and private owners. Residents are questioning why the process is taking so long and suggest that it might be more straightforward to directly hand over the land to the state government as part of the merger process.
Sanki Ravinder Babu, the general secretary of Cantonment Vikas Manch, emphasized that Secunderabad Cantonment is unique compared to other cantonments. He noted that the developments in other cantonments, such as Pune, Bengaluru, and Dehradun, have created confusion. However, in Secunderabad, there has been no significant progress. Ravinder Babu urged the concerned officials to clarify the modalities of the merger, particularly regarding the ownership of properties and land.
