Clearing the way for the formation of Greater Hyderabad by merging nearby municipalities and villages with the city, the Andhra Pradesh High Court Wednesday dismissed petitions against the government move.
The petitioners also contended that Greater Hyderabad would be too big an administrative unit and that the move was intended at getting Hyderabad declared a union territory on the formation of a separate Telangana state.
A division bench comprising Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice Nagarjuna dismissed a batch of petitions filed by people, including Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. This enables the creation of Greater Hyderabad, which gets expanded to 725 sq kms from the present MCH limits of 172 sq kms and population wise leap to 55 lakhs from the present 36 lakhs. Once the Greater Hyderabad concept becomes a reality, it is argued that those living in the 12 municipalities and eight Gram Panchayats surrounding Hyderabad will be forced to pay more taxes and shell out more for amenities.The decision State Government intends merging the municipalities of Alwal, Qutbullapur, Kukatpally, Kapra, Malkajgiri, Uppal, L.B.Nagar, Gaddiannaram, Rajendranagar, Serilingampally, Ramachandrapuram and Patanacheru with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. The Panchayats slated to join Greater Hyderabad include Shamshabad, Satamrai, Jallapalli, Mamidipalli, Mankhal, Almasguda, Sardanagar and Ravirala.
There could be an all round hike in registration charges, water connection charges and cess, property taxes, building fee, betterment and development charges and so on, builders point out.
The real estate scene, therefore, is in for more transformation, and this, coupled with the changes that are already setting in, could mean major changes to the property dreams, and budgets, of the citizens.
The court, which had stayed the formation of Greater Hyderabad Aug 22, 2005, said the petitioners could submit their objections to the government within 15 days. It also directed the government to take their views into consideration before taking a final decision. Welcoming the court order, the government said it would start the process of holding elections to the municipal corporation of Greater Hyderabad soon.
The petitioners had alleged that the government decision to form Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corp - was illegal and unconstitutional as it was aimed at postponing the polls to the surrounding municipalities. The petitioners also contended that GHMC would be too big an administrative unit and that the move was intended at getting Hyderabad declared a union territory on the formation of a separate Telangana state.
On July 1, 2005, the state cabinet approved the creation of Greater Hyderabad and a plan to invest Rs.8 billion to strengthen its infrastructure.
In August 2005, the elected body in the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad - voted against the proposal. With the merger of 10 municipalities of Ranga Reddy district, two of Medak district and eight villages, the city would now extend as far as the industrial town Patancheru in Medak, registering almost a five-fold increase in size.
The government argued that the creation of Greater Hyderabad would help the city get more funds from the central government and speed up its development.
Source: The Hindu, Monsters and Critics
