5 months ago
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The twelvemonth 2025 was a milestone for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), with the enlargement of the country nether its purview from 650 sq km to 2,053 sq km aft the subsumption of 27 peripheral municipality section bodies (ULB). The GHMC is present 1 of India’s largest municipal corporations encircled by the 158 km Nehru Outer Ring Road.
Three cardinal ordinances, successful precocious 2025, amending the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 and the GHMC Act, 1955, facilitated the GHMC’s enlargement and the merger of the ULBs which are either wrong oregon done which the ORR passed. The ordinances were passed by the Telangana Legislative Assembly during its wintertime session. The GHMC has present grown from six zones to 12 zones, 30 circles to 60 circles, and 150 wards/divisions to 300 wards/divisions. With the GHMC Council’s word acceptable to extremity by February 11, 2026, caller assembly representatives are to beryllium elected for the 300 wards successful caller elections.
While nary authoritative announcement has been made yet, determination is speech that the civic assemblage could beryllium divided into 3 antithetic corporations — Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri. There has been a hurried assignment of further commissioners successful the Cyberabad and Malkajgiri regions, a devolution of powers arsenic good arsenic the reorganisation of the municipality readying and engineering departments.
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Hyderabad is apt to go the largest of each 3 corporations (150 wards/divisions). Official sources corroborate that it would comprise the zones wrong the halfway metropolis and the appended regions towards the airdrome (Rajendra Nagar, Jalpally, Adibatla and Shamshabad). Revenues could beryllium stagnant successful the halfway metropolis with scope for improvement successful the recently added zones remaining constricted owed to tallness restrictions astir the airport. Cyberabad would encompass each the localities connected the occidental side, which person developed good owed to the beingness of information-technology and related industries. They see Kokapet, Raidurgam, Serilingampally, Kukatpally, Patancheru, Dundigal, Shamirpet and Medchal. Here, gigantic towers and rising realty prices, alternatively than roadworthy space, h2o availability and prime of life, look to pull NRI investments.
Malkajgiri, the ‘third corp to be’, mostly constitutes the eastbound portion of the city, location to retired authorities and backstage employees, middle- and lower-income groups, and migrant populations. This country inactive faces issues related to semi-urban settings and mediocre infrastructure. There is besides a 350-acre metropolis garbage dump which limits the scope for improvement successful 5-6 kilometre radius.
The demerger of the GHMC into 3 abstracted corporations frankincense negates the extremity mentioned successful the merger bid ‘to tackle uneven growth, work disparities, and fragmented governance successful rapidly urbanizing areas…’
Also Read | Merger, demerger, enlargement and the commencement of the humongous municipality of Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Corporation would successful each probability beryllium dominated by the AIMIM, which is poised to summation its tally from 44 to 70-80 seats successful a 150-ward council, aft the caller ward delimitation exercise. The hard information is that the AIMIM, with its unrivalled grip connected the practice portion of the metropolis for decades, historically displayed nary progressive ethos oregon developmental vision. Its dominance could impact the maturation dynamics and cosmopolitan prime of the corporation, with parochial concerns overpowering the larger goals.
The governmental motive down each this is undefined, but the Congress party’s elector basal could expand. During the 2023 legislative elections, each the city-based Assembly constituencies different than those from the Old City were bagged by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi; the demerger could assistance the Congress. There are immoderate who judge that the demerger is to assistance Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s favored project, Bharat Future City, astir 60 km distant from the administrative centre of the State.
The authorities could larn a acquisition oregon 2 from the Delhi experimentation of 2012 erstwhile Delhi was divided into 3 corporations with a stated extremity of amended civic management. It was deed by fiscal strain and operational inefficiencies, and the corporations had to beryllium re-unified a decennary later. The Telangana authorities could absorption connected the deficiencies that plague the GHMC, specified arsenic improvement disparities, woeful staffing, rampant corruption, deficiency of readying and innovation successful municipality infrastructure, and unreliable nationalist transport, alternatively than losing a decennary to larn the hard way.
swathi.v@thehindu.co.in
