
Secunderabad Cantonment residents await elections as civic issues remain unresolved for years
The eight wards in the board have been without an elected representative since 2021, when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) extended the tenure of the previous batch of elected members by a year. The elections are usually held once every five years.
BT Srinivasan, secretary general of the Confederation of Resident Welfare Associations (CoRWA), said: 'It's really difficult to reach out to officials without elected members.
We face so many issues, such as poor water supply, clogged drains, and sub-standard sanitation facilities, but for them to be addressed, we need someone to represent the common people.'
You Can Also Check:
Hyderabad AQI
|
Weather in Hyderabad
|
Bank Holidays in Hyderabad
|
Public Holidays in Hyderabad
Srinivasan said, 'Right now, the board is run by Army officials and a nominated member. The population of the cantonment is more than 4 lakhs. How can one nominated member take care of all our issues?'
Residents say they have been told elections will take place once the merger between the SCB and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), which has been in the works since early 2023, goes through.
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around
Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List
Undo
by Taboola
by Taboola
'We've been hearing talks of the merger for some time now, but on the ground, there has been no effort to initiate it. Other state govts and cantonment boards have formed committees to implement the transition, but here, there has been no progress,' said Jakkula Maheshwar Reddy, a resident of Bowenpally and one of the elected representatives in the previous council from Ward-1.
Board officials said it is difficult to predict when the elections will be held, as it is solely up to the Ministry of Defence (MoD). 'Lately, we have not had any intimation from the ministry to hold elections, so for now there has been no fixed date. Whether it will happen before or after the merger, we can't really tell,' said Madhukar Naik, chief executive officer (CEO) of SCB.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
11 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Operation Sindoor fallout: Chinese-made surveillance gear banned, aerial monitoring boosted for Independence Day
In the wake of Operation Sindoor, this year's Independence Day celebrations will feature enhanced aerial monitoring and a complete ban on the usage of 'Made In China' surveillance equipment in and around the Red Fort in the national capital. With Prime Minister Nadrendra Modi set to make his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort on August 15, the venue was taken over by the Ministry of Defence from July 15. This year, more guests are being invited to attended the Independence Day celebrations in comparison to previous years, sources said. Security agencies, intelligence agencies, and Defence Ministry officials who attended a recent high-level meeting regarding security at Red Fort held a detailed discussion on possible security breaches through unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Anti-drone systems 'Installation of anti-drone devices and radar systems near the Red Fort and possible threats were discussed in detail with defence forces. Ministry of Defence will be deploying anti-drone systems to stop any aerial breach and the Indian Air Force will be on high alert. Drones are among the key security concerns. We have also given clear instructions to the vendors installing CCTVs in and around the venue to not install any 'Made in China' equipment for surveillance purposes,' said an official. The Indian government has banned Chinese surveillance equipment, including CCTV cameras, citing potential data leakage risks. Another official said that aerial security is a major concern this Independence Day. Teams of experts have visited the Red Fort and surrounding areas to assess the minute details of all possible security threats. Another high-level meeting has been called on Friday to discuss the preparations for the event in detail, including the security aspect. Operation Sindoor was a drone-centric war, with Pakistan using loitering munitions and swarm drones. These attempts, however, were effectively neutralised by India's comprehensive and multilayered air defence architecture. Smart video surveillance Security agencies said that they will be installing intelligent video surveillance systems, including features such as a vehicle number plate recognition system, face detection, people movement counting, tripwires, audio detection, defocus, and spotting intrusions and abandoned or missing objects. The advanced facial recognition system facility on live cameras as well as on recorded videos will help to detect any matches with faces on the government's watch list database and provide alerts to the control room.

Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Trump says countries will face tariffs ranging from 15% to 50%
US President Donald Trump suggested that he would not go below 15% as he sets so-called reciprocal tariff rates ahead of an Aug. 1 deadline, an indication that the floor for the increased levies was rising. US President Donald Trump at the Oval Office on July 22, 2025. (REUTERS/Kent Nishimura)(REUTERS) 'We'll have a straight, simple tariff of anywhere between 15% and 50%,' Trump said Wednesday at an AI summit in Washington. 'A couple of — we have 50 because we haven't been getting along with those countries too well.' Trump's comment declaring that the tariffs would begin at 15% represented the latest twist in his effort to impose duties on nearly every US trading partner, and the latest indication that Trump was looking to more aggressively impose the levies on exports from countries outside the small group that so far has been able to broker trade frameworks with Washington. Trump earlier this month said that more than 150 countries would receive a letter including a tariff rate of 'probably 10 or 15%, we haven't decided yet.' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CBS News on Sunday that small countries including 'the Latin American countries, the Caribbean countries, many countries in Africa' would have a baseline tariff of 10%. And at the first announcement of the tariffs in April, Trump unveiled a universal tariff of 10% on nearly every country. While Trump and his advisers initially expressed hopes of securing multiple deals, the president has been touting the tariff letters themselves as 'deals' and suggesting that he is uninterested in back-and-forth negotiations. Still, he has left the door open for countries to make agreements that could lower those rates. On Tuesday, Trump announced he was reducing a threatened 25% tariff on Japan to 15% in exchange for the country removing restrictions on some US products as well as offering to back a $550 billion investment fund. The White House has also discussed a similar fund with South Korea, a nation also focused on reaching a 15% rate including on autos, according to people familiar with the matter. And the Philippines is aiming to bring down its own tariff rate to the 15% level from the current 19% rate, according to the country's Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez. Meantime, officials in Vietnam are weighing the likely cost of their deal. Hanoi estimates its exports to the US could decline by as much as a third if higher tariffs announced by Trump take effect, an internal government assessment shows. Other nations, including India and members of the European Union, are still pushing for an agreements before the heightened tariffs go into effect. On Wednesday, Trump said he would 'have a very, very simple tariff for some of the countries' because there were so many nations that 'you can't negotiate deals with everyone.' He said talks with the European Union were 'serious.' 'If they agree to open up the union to American businesses, then we will let them pay a lower tariff,' Trump said.

Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
Massive setback for Donald Trump: Appeals court strikes down birthright citizenship order nationwide
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump's executive order aiming to curtail automatic birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, blocking its enforcement nationwide. The decision marks a major legal blow to Trump's immigration agenda and could set the stage for another showdown at the US Supreme Court. In a 2-1 decision, the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Seattle, declaring that Trump's directive violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. 'The court agrees that the president cannot redefine what it means to be American with the stroke of a pen,' said Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, whose state led the legal challenge. The executive order had sought to deny US citizenship to children born on American soil unless at least one parent was a US citizen or lawful permanent resident. Despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that curtailed the power of lower courts to issue nationwide injunctions, the 9th Circuit allowed the broader block, saying anything less would fail to protect the four states involved—Washington, Arizona, Illinois, and Oregon. 'It is impossible to avoid this harm absent a uniform application of the citizenship clause throughout the United States,' wrote US Circuit Judge Ronald Gould, who authored the majority opinion. Gould, joined by Judge Michael Hawkins, argued that limiting the injunction geographically would force states to revise government benefits programs in anticipation of families relocating from areas where the order was active. In a dissenting opinion, Judge Patrick Bumatay, a Trump appointee, contended that the plaintiff states lacked standing to sue and warned that the decision risked "judicial overreach." Trump's 2019 executive order directed federal agencies to refuse to recognize the US citizenship of children born on US soil to non-citizen parents who lacked green cards or American citizenship. The Constitution's Citizenship Clause says: 'All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens…' The case originated from a ruling by Judge John Coughenour, a Reagan appointee in Seattle, who became the first to halt the order. In his ruling, Coughenour called Trump's directive 'blatantly unconstitutional,' a position now affirmed by the appellate court. Trump's legal team could now appeal directly to the Supreme Court or request a broader review by the full 9th Circuit panel.