In context of Pakistan, a cantonment is still is what is defined by the 1924 Cantonment Act, and not just a geographical connotation. As I understand, in India,

In context of Pakistan, a cantonment is still is what is defined by the 1924 Cantonment Act, and not just a geographical connotation. As I understand, in India, a place may well be called a cantonment for historical reasons only, while being a regular town/city/district for administrative purposes. And that law is defining it very, very poorly, and it is where the trouble with them comes from. Per the Act, a cantonment is “any place … in which any part of the regular forces or the regular air force of Pakistan is quartered … or is required for the service of such forces…” Now decide on the boundary of the “any place,” which has never been historically defined, and delineations of jurisdictions with non cantoned off area. Some cantonments never had defined boundaries, and grew to size of cities. Some, on other hand, began to envelop more and more of its host cities' area as definitions of their boundaries were reinterpreted. Another matter is whether garbage removal, or provision of other utilities in a cantonment a duty of its own cantonal authority, or a region/county/city hosting it? People who wrote that law wrote it before even electricity was a thing, and never though of such things.