HYDERABAD: A day after the five-year term of the GHMC Council ended on Tuesday, the state government formally reorganised the Core Urban Region (CURE) by trifurcating the expanded Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation into three separate municipal corporations, saying that it would help deliver services to citizens more efficiently.
Through a series of GOs issued on Wednesday morning, the government announced the creation of three independent civic bodies — the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC).
Each will function as a separate body under the provisions of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, 1955, with perpetual succession and a common seal.
The move follows the recent expansion of GHMC’s jurisdiction from about 650 sq km to 2,053 sq km after the merger of 27 peripheral Urban Local Bodies, including 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations, located within and beyond the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Alongside this expansion, the number of wards was doubled from 150 to 300.
With the expiry of the GHMC Council’s term, the special officer rule came into force on Wednesday. Special Chief Secretary to the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department, Jayesh Ranjan, was appointed special officer for all three municipal corporations, as per a separate GO signed by Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao. Jayesh Ranjan assumed charge on Wednesday by visiting the GHMC, CMC and MMC offices.
New civic body chiefs take charge
The government also appointed commissioners for the newly constituted corporations. RV Karnan will continue as GHMC commissioner, while GHMC additional commissioners G Srijana and T Vinay Krishna Reddy will head the Cyberabad and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporations, respectively. The three commissioners took charge in the presence of the special officer.
Under the reorganisation, the earlier 12 GHMC zones have been redistributed. GHMC will now comprise six zones — Khairatabad, Secunderabad, Shamshabad, Rajendranagar, Charminar and Golconda — with 30 circles and 150 wards. The Shamshabad Zone will have 17 wards; Rajendranagar 29; Charminar 25; Golconda 26; Khairatabad 25; and Secunderabad 28.
Cyberabad Municipal Corporation will consist of three zones — Serilingampally, Kukatpally and Quthbullapur — with a total of 16 circles and 76 wards. Serilingampally will have 26 wards, Kukatpally 23 and Quthbullapur 27 wards.
The CMC office will function temporarily from the newly constructed Manikonda municipal office and is expected to shift later to the NAC building complex on a temporary basis.
Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation will also have three zones — Malkajgiri, Uppal and LB Nagar — comprising 14 circles and 74 wards. Malkajgiri Zone will have 26 wards, Uppal 24 wards and LB Nagar 24 wards. The MMC office has been established at Tarnaka, where the former HMDA head office was located.
Notably, the Opposition BRS, AIMIM and BJP have criticised the expansion of the civic body.
Officials said Wednesday’s restructuring will help decentralise administration, improve accountability and enable region-specific planning.
According to the official notification, the three corporations are expected to allow focused development, improve grievance redressal, reduce administrative delays and ensure more balanced resource allocation.
The government believes the new structure will aid planning approvals, revenue management, service delivery and infrastructure prioritisation as the metropolitan region continues to expand beyond the ORR.
Officials added that Cyberabad would focus on IT and commercial development, Malkajgiri on residential growth, and GHMC on heritage conservation and urban renewal in the central and Old City areas.
The story is reported by S Bachan Jeet Singh of The New Indian Express