secunderabad in a shot in the arm for those opposing the move of the trs government to construct a new secretariat at bison polo ground in secunderabad it turns out that a senior official had written to the army general urging him to use the ground exclusively for sports and cultural activities he urged the army chief not to allow permanent structures therethe state government is faced with strong opposition from political parties and heritage activists for its move to construct government buildings on the lung spacea 20yearold document reveals that the directorgeneral defence estate delhi has suggested that the bison polo ground should be utilized for sports and cultural events only bison polo ground and gymkhana ground in secunderabad comes under the jurisdiction of the directorgeneral defence estates delhi the local competent authorities are the secunderabad cantonment board scb and the defence estate officer telangana circleon february 23 1996 an official communication was addressed to the chief of army staff new delhi and the directorgeneral defence estates delhi it reclassified gymkhana grounds glr survey no 712 from b4 defence vacant land and race course road polo ground glr survey no 708 from a1 under activation of armythe mod also asked the cantonment board to ensure that the polo ground is kept absolutely free of encroachmentsif necessary the land has to be properly fencedin order to protect the bison polo ground from encroachments the mod appointed a committee the president of the cantonment board pcb is the chairman of the panelthe panel on bison polo ground is still in existence but meetings are not held regularly the scb has not received any official communication from the defence ministry on han ding over of bison polo ground to the state government an official in the scb saideven the state issued a go in 2002 banning conversion of grounds meant for sporting activities to other activities the orders were issued on february 20 2002 go ms no 72 by the municipal administration and urban development maud it also refers to an order of the high court of andhra pradesh in wp no 2627696 it makes it clear that the state government has no jurisdiction to convert open sites reserved for parks or playgrounds to some other purposes the court also said that any building or construction on such places necessarily affects the health sanitation and environment of the locality