Locals in the Secunderabad cantonment are asking the State and Central governments to merge civilian areas with the GHMC, following the Bengaluru model. They want the SCB merger process to speed up and clarification on how many civilian areas will be included in the GHMC.
They suggest using the same approach as Bengaluru and Khasyol cantonment, where notified civilian areas were given to the municipality and army establishments were turned into army stations. There is uncertainty about how much land, around 235 acres in 16 notified civilian areas, will be transferred, excluding classified lands like BI, B3, AI, and others. Some non-notified civilian areas should also be handed over.
The Ministry of Defence originally said that all proprietary rights would be transferred to GHMC, similar to the Khasyol cantonment last year. However, a recent letter revised this, causing confusion about what will actually be transferred. S Ravindra, general secretary of Vikas Manch, emphasized the need for clarity and a speedy merger process for the growth of Secunderabad cantonment.
He mentioned that after February, the merger process was halted, and the recent MoD notification added to the confusion. Locals like Suresh Reddy believe that adopting the Bengaluru model would be beneficial for SCB, where all notified civilian areas are transferred and army establishments are converted into army stations.
