Hyderabad: While the proposed deadline for closure of AOC roads for the general public looms near, Union defence minister Manohar Parri-kar has not responded yet to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s letter seeking postponement of the Army’s move.
A senior official of the state government said that attempts made in the past two months to have a meeting between the Chief Minister and the defence minister haven’t borne fruit as the latter was reportedly “avoiding” the issue.
The official said, “The Chief Minister’s office tried arranging a meeting with the defence minister during the former’s Delhi visit in the last week of October but the Union minister’s office informed that he was busy with other engagements.
Earlier, during Mr Parrikar’s visit to Hyderabad, too, the government had tried to organise a meeting between the two to discuss the AOC road closure issue, but it did not happen.” The Army has put up boards in AOC stating that from December 1, Gough Road will be closed due to “security and functional requirements”.
Mr Chandrasekhar Rao on October 12 had written to Mr Parrikar, requesting him to instruct the Army to postpone the Gough Road closure till the alternative road was completed.
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