The imminent merger of 27 surrounding urban local bodies (ULBs) with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is poised to make it the largest municipal corporation in the country by both area and population. The GHMC boundaries are scheduled to expand dramatically from the current 650 square kilometers to 2,050 square kilometers, pushing the estimated population from 1.12 crore to 1.34 crore. At the same time, the number of municipal wards in the new unified body is set to double to 300.
The GHMC expansion was hailed by Hyderabad’s Mayor, Gadwal Vijayalaxmi, as the beginning of a “new era” for Hyderabad as it would now offer seamless governance and development for its citizens. The mayor called for suggestions and objections to the notification to be filed and assured that every objection would be heard and addressed in order to achieve an “inclusive and vibrant city.”
However, legislators and corporators across party lines raised serious objections to the delimitation process. Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLA T Srinivas Yadav claimed the process was undertaken without consulting political parties or corporators, alleging even the Mayor was not informed. BRS MLC Dasoju Shravan Kumar Shravan termed the notification unconstitutional and violative of the GHMC Act, questioning the constitutional legitimacy of the existing body to undertake delimitation.
MLA D Nagender, the BRS leader who recently defected to the ruling Congress, also demanded an extension of the deadline for submitting objections and questioned the methodology used for ward delimitation. Meanwhile, All India-Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MLA Ahmed Balala alleged that the delimitation was intentionally carried out to politically damage the AIMIM, and demanded that the Commissioner provide the detailed criteria and data used for the exercise.
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