Hyderabad: Development is set to accelerate and citizen services are likely to be delivered easily and quickly as the Telangana government has ushered in a new era in Hyderabad's municipal governance by merging 27 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), including 20 municipalities and seven municipal corporations, into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

With this merger, the GHMC's area has expanded from 650 square kilometres to 2,053 square kilometres, making it the largest Municipal Corporation in the country in terms of area and population.

As part of the reorganisation, following a comprehensive delimitation process notified in the gazette, the number of GHMC wards has been increased from 150 to 300. This aims to further strengthen public representation, enhance administrative efficiency, and thereby bring civic services closer to the people in the expanded urban areas.

A day before, the government had issued orders notifying zones, circles and wards. The government on Friday appointed Zonal Commissioners for the 12 zones in the GHMC.

The newly appointed Zonal Commissioners include Sanchit Gangwar as Malkajgiri commissioner, Radhika Gupta as Uppal Commissioner, Hemanta Keshav Patil (LB Nagar), K Chandrakala (Shamshabad), Auraag Jayanti (Rajendranagar), S Srinivas Reddy (Charminar), G Mukunda Reddy (Golconda), Priyanka Ala (Khairatabad), N Ravi Kiran (Secunderabad), Bhorkhade Hemant Sahadeorao (Serilingampally), Apurv Chauhan (Kukatpally), Sandeep Kumar Jha (Quthbullapur).

The officials said that to effectively manage the increased administrative responsibilities resulting from the merger, the state government approved the reorganisation of GHMC from the previous six zones and 30 circles to 12 zones and 60 circles.

With the current GHMC population exceeding 1.34 crore, these changes are expected to contribute to decentralisation, administrative equity and improved service delivery, said senior officials. In line with the new administrative structure, the government on Friday appointed 12 Zonal Commissioners for the GHMC. They assumed office on Friday, and the administration in the reorganised zones came into effect immediately. This would further strengthen supervision and governance at the ground level. The expanded GHMC limits have provided an opportunity to implement comprehensive metropolitan plans in areas such as land availability, transportation, housing, storm water drainage and environmental protection.

The newly merged areas will receive GHMC funding, technical expertise and standard civic services such as sanitation, solid waste management, public health, mosquito control, and emergency services.

With a broader tax base and streamlined administration, the GHMC's financial and institutional capacity has increased significantly. Officials say that this reorganisation would enable balanced urban development, improved disaster and flood management, and equitable infrastructure development from the city centre to the peripheral areas.

The expanded and reorganised GHMC reflects a unified vision for Hyderabad's future, with the goals of efficient governance, comprehensive development, and sustainable urban growth, said the official. Experts consider this a crucial step towards transforming Hyderabad into a world-class metropolitan city.