GHMC split into 3 Corporations

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), inarguably the country’s largest civic body, was on Wednesday trifurcated into three separate municipal corporations-Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Cyberabad and Malkajgiri municipal corporations with each headed by a commissioner, who all took immediate charge.

It should be noted that the State Government had earlier decided to increase GHMC’s jurisdiction from 650 sq.km to over 2,000 sq.km and doubling its wards from 150 to 300. However, the reorganisation exercise took effect on Wednesday commemorating Tuesday’s conclusion of the current term of the GHMC Council.

Under the Core Urban Region (CURE) framework, GHMC will boast of 150 wards, Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC) 76 wards and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation (MMC) 74 wards. Additionally, the government issued orders appointing new commissioners to the two newly created corporations. The incumbent GHMC commissioner R V Karnan will continue in his post, while GHMC additional commissioners G Srijana and T Vinay Krishna Reddy have been posted as commissioners of Cyberabad and Malkajgiri Municipal Commissioners, respectively.

The government stated that the move is intended to enhance administrative efficiency, improve service delivery, and ensure focused governance across the rapidly expanding metropolitan region.

The restructuring is designed to facilitate better decentralisation, strengthen field-level administration, and provide responsive civic services to residents, it said.

Meanwhile, the government appointed senior bureaucrat Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary (Metropolitan Area and Urban Development) as Special Officer for all three municipal corporations.

The Cyberabad Municipal Corporation will comprise the erstwhile Greater Hyderabad circles - Serilingampally, Kukatpally and Qutubullapur. Likewise, former circles - Malkajgiri, Uppal and L B Nagar will now make up MMC. The remaining zones Shamshabad, Rajendranagar, Golconda, Charminar and Khairtabad will fall under GHMC limits. The GHMC has 150 wards with 30 circles, including Shamshabad zone (four circles, 17 wards); Rajendranagar zone (six circles, 29 wards), Charminar zone (five circles, 25 wards), Golconda zone (five circles, 28 wards), Khairtabad Zone (five circles, 29 wards) and Secunderabad zone (five circles, 28 wards).

The Cyberabad Municipal Corporation will comprise 16 circles and 76 wards. It has three zones – Serilingampally zone (five circles, 26 wards), Kukatpally zone (four circles, 23 wards) and Quthbullapur zone (seven circles, 27 wards).

Furthermore, the Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation will have 14 circles and 74 wards. It comprises three zones – LB Nagar zone (four circles, 24 wards), Malkajgiri zone (five circles, 26 wards), and Uppal zone (five circles, 24 wards).

Officials pointed out that the reorganisation marks a strategic step towards building a more accountable, citizen-centric, and future-ready urban governance system for the Hyderabad metropolitan region. The government had last December merged 27 municipalities on the fringes of Hyderabad into GHMC, which thereafter emerged as a megacity, with 2,053 sq.km. The decision faced a lot of criticism from all major parties, including BRS, BJP and AIMIM.