Land mafia behind merger

MIM to lose hold on GHMC

With all the stakeholders opposing the merger of 35 panchayats with the GHMC, and with the corporation rejecting the merger proposal following vociferous protests by corporators cutting across party lines, fingers are being pointed to the unilateral decision taken by MA & UD and questions are raised over who would benefit from the merger.

Aditya Parankusam

The much-awaited Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) general body meeting held on Monday ended in chaos rejecting the merger of the 35 panchayats with the civic body. Probably it is for the first time when all the parties opposed the merger of the panchayats for reasons of their own. The government decision to merge the panchayats drew flak from all the stakeholders involved in the merger.

It should be noted that the GHMC general body on July 3 unanimously passed a resolution rejecting the merger of 15 Gram Panchayats with the civic body. But to their horror they found the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA & UD) Department unilaterally passed an order to merge in all panchayats. We have been carrying detailed reports as to how various civic bodies are against the proposed merger and the reasons.

Why merger?

Political analysts say that the merger is a ploy to pin down MIM which has a hold over the GHMC. There are 150 wards in GHMC with nearly 50 wards in the Old City area. This gives the MIM a solid strength with the other 100 seats divided among various parties. With the merger, there will be more wards which will certainly reduce the strength of the MIM.

But many fingers are pointed at the land mafia, who stands to gain from the decision to merge the panchayats. Few of these panchayats have the proximity to the ORR, and they have brought land in these panchayats at a knock down price expecting to make a fortune. Though the prices of these lands appreciated over the years, the appreciation was no way near the expectation of the land mafia. Political analysts say that the land mafia lobbied hard before the MA &UD and has influenced the merger decision.

These panchayats which are earlier self- governed weren’t guaranteed of amenities like roads, water and electricity. Electricity was only limited to 6 hours that too to cater agrarian needs. So builders had a difficult time developing the area. Buyers seem to be only interested in gated communities that guaranteed BT roads, electricity and water. With the merger the Civic bodies like GHMC and water board have an obligation to provide better facilities. This worked for the land mafia; reportedly there was a large increase in land price benefitting the builders who have already invested in land there. With the areas becoming non-agricultural, the building activity will boom in these areas.

Political parties’ take on merger

TDP floor leader Singireddy Srinivas Reddy said that the civic body would have to hire 10 helicopters and 10 buses to monitor civic and development works in the entire GHMC area. TDP corporator M Bhanuprasad (Hydernagar) said that merger would pose administrative problems for the civic body. The Commissioner would have to hire a helicopter in case he decided to inspect vast areas under the GHMC limits, he said in a lighter vein.

Mohammed Nazeeruddin (MIM) expressed doubts that the merger decision was aimed at benefiting the real estate sector by transforming the agricultural lands in villages into non-agricultural lands. “Former Chief Minister J S Rajasekhar Reddy had promised Rs 5000 crore grant for the development of 12 municipalities that were merged to form the GHMC in 2007. Neither the grant was given to those municipalities nor was the staff increased. In this backdrop, accommodating new places would not serve any purpose,” said the MIM leader.Congress floor leader Diddi Rambabu pointed out that it had become increasingly difficult for people from peripheral municipalities to visit the head office for any work. Adding more villages into the corporation would compound the woes of the public residing in those areas, he said. “Although the Congress is not in favour, our party demands setting up of a GHMC committee to go into the issue thoroughly and take an appropriate decision later,” Rambabu added.

TRS MLA Harishwar Reddy, in a press conference, said that the TRS was vehemently opposed to the merger of the panchayats. He questioned the logic behind leaving out Manikonda, which is near to Jubilee Hills but merging panchyats that are far off. He demanded the government to roll back the decision. He also alleged that the decision was taken to facilitate the Seemandhra based officers and Ministers to exercise control over the city. A source within the TRS alleges that the merger is part of a bigger ploy to increase the area of GHMC so that it can be made a Union Territory.

Curious case of Manikonda

Ever since the GOs are out, Manikonda not being included is point of the discussion. Many believe that it is a deliberate ploy not to include Manikonda, as the panchayat is fighting a case in the court over the alleged encroachment of Wakf lands by a real estate major and the government doesn’t want GHMC to involve in an ongoing legal tussle.

HMDA will be the loser

The proposed 34 panchayats used to contribute Rs 150-200 cr annually to Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA). With the merger, the cash-strapped HMDA will lose this revenue. A senior official at the HMDA said that this decision by the government to merge the panchayats, which are the hub of real estate activities, will wreck the HMDA.

What the panchayats say?

Villagers of surrounding gram panchayats are against the merger of their villages into the civic body. They say that their taxes, trade licence fee, and building permission fee will be increased exponentially. While these panchayats are under the HMDA to develop 100 yards of land a fee of Rs 2000 would be sufficient, but after the merger for the betterment charges alone, GHMC charges Rs 20,000. Earlier those who are paying Rs 5000 per annum as property tax to the panchayat boards will now have to pay GHMC Rs 12,000 as property tax. Many villagers even fear the discrepancies and irregularities that are involved in the evaluation of property tax by GHMC. Besides they expressed doubts over the facilities they would be getting. "GHMC couldn’t even provide basic infrastructure to panchayats that are already merged. Adding more is absurd,” said Balraj Yadav of Nizampet. In fact, the villagers have to pay higher taxes without any civic amenities.

Even NGOs are against the merger of panchayats. In a press statement M Vedakumar, president of Forum for Better Hyderabad, said the decision was undemocratic. The merger of the panchayats with the GHMC is a step towards centralisation of power, which is against the spirit of the 74th amendment of the Constitution that seeks to promote local participation in planning and development.

Most of the GHMC and even the top brass are against the merger of the panchayats. Reportedly, administration issues are the concern of the top brass. The Water Board reportedly has made it clear to the GHMC that it can supply drinking water to the new areas only after the completion of the Krishna Phase-3 and the Godavari project. With GHMC general body meeting rejecting the merger proposal, it would be interesting to see how this merger drama unfolds.