Hyderabad: The merger of the surrounding 27 urban local bodies with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will make it the biggest municipal corporation in the country both in terms of area and population.
The GHMC boundaries will expand from the present 650 square kilometres to 2,050 square kilometres, while the estimated population will go up from 1.12 crore to 1.34 crore.
The number of municipal wards in the new body will double to 300.
GHMC Commissioner R. V. Karnan told the special general body meeting of GHMC on Tuesday that the merger of 27 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), including panchayats, municipalities, and small corporations, will turn the GHMC into the Telangana Core Urban Region.
The special meeting has been convened to discuss the preliminary notification issued last week for the delimitation of wards.
Corporators and ex officio members, including MLAs and MLCs, were participating in the session to give their suggestions and raise objections, if any.
The Commissioner said delimitation of wards has been notified based on a comprehensive study by the Centre for Good Governance (CGG).
The government has sought suggestions and objections from people. The final notification will be published after receiving the same.
The Municipal Commissioner revealed that more than 3000 objections have been received so far. He said December 17 is the last date for submitting the objections.
Karnan said the process of notifying wards has to be completed by December 31, noting the urgency is because of the decadal census to be conducted in 2026-27.
Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi said that the GHMC expansion marks a new era for Greater Hyderabad, bringing more areas under unified governance, ensuring equitable development, better infrastructure, and improved civic services for residents.
She urged the corporators and ex officio members to give their suggestions and objections and assured them that the same would be addressed. She stated that the effort was aimed at making Hyderabad a more inclusive and vibrant metropolis.
Cutting across party lines, MLAs, MLCs and corporators raised their objections over delimitation of wards.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T. Srinivas Yadav said the process was taken up without consulting political parties and corporators. He claimed that even the Mayor was not informed.
BRS MLC Dasoju Shravan Kumar Shravan termed the notification unconstitutional and violative of the GHMC Act. He questioned the constitutional sanctity of the GCC to undertake the process of delimitation.
MLA D. Nagender, the BRS MLA who defected to the ruling Congress last month, demanded that the deadline for submitting objections be extended. He questioned the manner in which the delimitation of wards was done.
All India-Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Ahmed Balala alleged that the delimitation was done to politically damage AIMIM.
He sought clarifications over the criteria followed for delimitation and demanded that the Commissioner provide the details, including data.
(IANS)
