Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation expanded its limits sharply after the State merged 27 urban local bodies with GHMC. Officials placed the combined population of old GHMC wards and merged municipalities at nearly 1.3 crore. Because of this growth, the government approved the reorganisation of GHMC into 300 wards through GO 266 on Monday. GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan said he would issue the draft delimitation notification on Wednesday and begin collecting objections, suggestions and written submissions.
The civic body will keep the objections window open for a full week. Consequently, the reorganisation effort has moved into a decisive stage. Starting Wednesday, officials in circle, zonal and head offices will accept applications from residents, institutions and organisations. They also committed to clearing each objection on the same day to maintain transparency. Karnan said his teams would address every point quickly so that public review remains smooth and responsive.
Officials firm up new ward design as GHMC enters review phase
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy monitored the delimitation exercise closely, and GHMC staff worked for ten straight days with town planning teams, election officials and senior commissioners to complete the draft. They finalised 300 wards, 50 circles and 10 zones. Moreover, planners fixed boundaries to prevent a ward from crossing two circles. They also used a standard population of 45,000 per ward with a ten-percent variation. In Tellapur, officials kept the existing layout because the area continues to urbanise rapidly.
Teams also ensured that no ward fell under two Assembly constituencies, especially since constituency delimitation will begin next year. GHMC increased the number of zones from six to ten and created five circles in each. Every zone now holds 30 wards. Town planning officials and the Centre for Good Governance prepared the draft at the Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Centre. Karnan said his staff would begin reviewing objections today, and final notification would follow only after officers examined valid suggestions.
Election authorities said they still have enough time to complete ward reservations before polls. Once the government signals readiness, the Election Commission, GHMC and Revenue officials will work together to finalise SC, ST and BC reservations. GHMC will place the ULB merger and the new 300-ward structure before the Standing Committee on December 18. Furthermore, a General Body meeting in early January will also consider the plan for approval.
Karnan stated that GHMC would accept objections only in offline mode. He said new circle offices created after the merger had been prepared to receive representations. He also said his teams would address each submission without delay. GHMC will present the delimitation proposal before the Standing Committee on December 18 for detailed review and to gather members’ opinions before advancing final steps.