This is one issue that has united strange bedfellows, from the MIM to TRS to the TDP and even some Congressmen. The making of Greater Hyderabad is now a foregone conclusion, with the Andhra Pradesh High Court clearing the decks by dismissing the petition filed by MIM. The court has allowed the petitioners to file their objections with the government, which is only a formality. With the setting up of Greater Hyderabad, the contours of the politics and development of the state capital, with the twin cities will change forever.
The 715 km area, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will become one of the biggest urban agglomerations in the country. It will merge seven municipalities from Ranga Reddy district, including Alwal, Gaddiannaram, Kapra, Kukatpally, LB Nagar, Malkajgiri, Rajendranagar, Serlingampally, Qutballapur and Uppal Kalan. Greater Hyderabad will also gobble up two municipalities, Patancheru and Ramachandrapuram in Medak district. Gram Panchayats including Tukkuguda, Jalapally, Mankhal, Mamidpalli, Ravarala, Satamarai, Shamshabad, Sharadanagar in the outlying districts will also get amalgamated. In a way, GHMC will make Ranga Reddy district irrelevant in the new scheme of things.
For MIM, this move will sound their death knell, as their stranglehold on the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and the new set-up GHMC will weaken considerably. The writ of Owaisi and Co Pvt Ltd does not run beyond Barkas. Trying to win in an area like Malkajgiri is akin to India beating Brazil in football.
The BJP is the only party celebrating as it has all to gain and nothing to lose. With TRS and Congress parting ways, the biggest gainer in the new set-up will be the saffron brigade. The party which has a good hold in the city proper and some of the other municipalities will play on the Hindutva card, a la Shiv Sena in Mumbai. It will work wonders in many areas of the old city, where communities are highly polarized on communal lines.
With TRS and Congress parting ways, Bandaru Dattatreya can look forward to gaining the upper hand in Secunderabad. Kishen Reddy who has the record for the best development schemes among the MLAs in the twin cities will look to sew up his pocket borough of Himayatnagar. On the other hand, Karwan, Begum Bazar, Maharajgunj, Musheerabad, Malakpet will witness a renewed BJP onslaught. To make all this happen, city BJP President, Prem Singh Rathore will have to bring disparate party elements together into a well-knit team.
In Congress, the biggest losers will be the Hyderabad brothers, Sashidhar and Janardhan Reddy. The new set-up will make it difficult for PJR to lay claim to the fact that he has an absolute hold in the affairs of a number of constituencies that fall in the Central, West and North zones of the city. YSR on his part will go all out to ensure that PJR's nominees for GHMC are humbled at the hustings. PJR is all the more aware that his detractors had played the same dirty trick on him during the last Assembly elections, when he lost to rookie Vijaya Rama Rao. The sabotage plan is to ensure that PJR and his henchmen do not win too many seats and start demanding the mayor's post in GHMC. Sashidhar Reddy is a one-man army unlike PJR and winning the divisions in Sanathnagar will be tough for the well-mannered gentleman.
For the TDP, it is a case of being neither here nor there. Devender Goud who will lose all his footing with the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is the most vociferous opponent from the opposition. Goud knows that once TDP is elbowed out of the electoral race for GHMC, it will be curtains for him, and with it his dream of upstaging CB Naidu. For Goud, the delaying tactic in the form of an appeal to the Supreme Court is the last straw.
For the TRS, the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is a precursor to de-linking the city from the proposed Telengana and paving the way for a conspiracy to make Hyderabad a union territory. In the GHMC elections, KCR and his men will have to fight it alone, and will not stand a ghost of a chance to win, especially in areas like Kukatpally, LB Nagar and Dilsukhnagar which are heavily populated by people from coastal region. The anti-Medak stance of KCR in the IIT issue will cost his party dear, specially in the city outskirts. The abysmal performance of party MLAs from the city, Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Padma Rao will complete the rout.
On the other hand, the move to create Greater Hyderabad will help the state government access funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Union Minster Jaipal Reddy and the ex MCH boss PK Mohanty, now the head of JNNURM have considerable say in the release of urban development funds. The central government is already talking of extending Rs 2,000 crore grant for the Hyderabad Metro project. The third phase of Krishna water project which was given up, is now being dusted up and sanctions are on the way with funding assurances from Jaipal Reddy.
The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad will don the new title of Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. All the newly merged municipalities will initially serve as sub offices all reporting to the super boss of MCH, Sanjay Jaju. The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will also get a new avtaar, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) with a de-centralised setup.
For the average citizen, anything good is welcome, Greater or not so Great. What they will be worried about is the likely impact of Greater Hyderabad on property taxes, water and sewerage charges will be a bone of contention. MCH authorities concede that there will be an appreciation in taxes, but the increase will be done in a graded manner. The crucial question is about the status of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board. The infrastructure development in SCB area is nothing much to write home about. Building rules are violated with impunity and builders care two hoots for rules and regulations.
The term of the present body of MCH ends on February 11th, and corporators are waiting in anticipation to see when the proclamation for Greater Hyderabad would come about. MCH officials say that once the objections are filed, Government would go through them as a formality and reject them outright. Then the moment for notification will arrive.
Greater Hyderabad is an idea whose time has come. What it requires is the will to succeed in ensuring a better quality of life for the citizens, specially the new ones who have come into its fold. Democracy is after all for the people, by the people.
The 715 km area, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will become one of the biggest urban agglomerations in the country. It will merge seven municipalities from Ranga Reddy district, including Alwal, Gaddiannaram, Kapra, Kukatpally, LB Nagar, Malkajgiri, Rajendranagar, Serlingampally, Qutballapur and Uppal Kalan. Greater Hyderabad will also gobble up two municipalities, Patancheru and Ramachandrapuram in Medak district. Gram Panchayats including Tukkuguda, Jalapally, Mankhal, Mamidpalli, Ravarala, Satamarai, Shamshabad, Sharadanagar in the outlying districts will also get amalgamated. In a way, GHMC will make Ranga Reddy district irrelevant in the new scheme of things.
For MIM, this move will sound their death knell, as their stranglehold on the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad and the new set-up GHMC will weaken considerably. The writ of Owaisi and Co Pvt Ltd does not run beyond Barkas. Trying to win in an area like Malkajgiri is akin to India beating Brazil in football.
The BJP is the only party celebrating as it has all to gain and nothing to lose. With TRS and Congress parting ways, the biggest gainer in the new set-up will be the saffron brigade. The party which has a good hold in the city proper and some of the other municipalities will play on the Hindutva card, a la Shiv Sena in Mumbai. It will work wonders in many areas of the old city, where communities are highly polarized on communal lines.
With TRS and Congress parting ways, Bandaru Dattatreya can look forward to gaining the upper hand in Secunderabad. Kishen Reddy who has the record for the best development schemes among the MLAs in the twin cities will look to sew up his pocket borough of Himayatnagar. On the other hand, Karwan, Begum Bazar, Maharajgunj, Musheerabad, Malakpet will witness a renewed BJP onslaught. To make all this happen, city BJP President, Prem Singh Rathore will have to bring disparate party elements together into a well-knit team.
In Congress, the biggest losers will be the Hyderabad brothers, Sashidhar and Janardhan Reddy. The new set-up will make it difficult for PJR to lay claim to the fact that he has an absolute hold in the affairs of a number of constituencies that fall in the Central, West and North zones of the city. YSR on his part will go all out to ensure that PJR's nominees for GHMC are humbled at the hustings. PJR is all the more aware that his detractors had played the same dirty trick on him during the last Assembly elections, when he lost to rookie Vijaya Rama Rao. The sabotage plan is to ensure that PJR and his henchmen do not win too many seats and start demanding the mayor's post in GHMC. Sashidhar Reddy is a one-man army unlike PJR and winning the divisions in Sanathnagar will be tough for the well-mannered gentleman.
For the TDP, it is a case of being neither here nor there. Devender Goud who will lose all his footing with the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is the most vociferous opponent from the opposition. Goud knows that once TDP is elbowed out of the electoral race for GHMC, it will be curtains for him, and with it his dream of upstaging CB Naidu. For Goud, the delaying tactic in the form of an appeal to the Supreme Court is the last straw.
For the TRS, the setting up of Greater Hyderabad is a precursor to de-linking the city from the proposed Telengana and paving the way for a conspiracy to make Hyderabad a union territory. In the GHMC elections, KCR and his men will have to fight it alone, and will not stand a ghost of a chance to win, especially in areas like Kukatpally, LB Nagar and Dilsukhnagar which are heavily populated by people from coastal region. The anti-Medak stance of KCR in the IIT issue will cost his party dear, specially in the city outskirts. The abysmal performance of party MLAs from the city, Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Padma Rao will complete the rout.
On the other hand, the move to create Greater Hyderabad will help the state government access funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Union Minster Jaipal Reddy and the ex MCH boss PK Mohanty, now the head of JNNURM have considerable say in the release of urban development funds. The central government is already talking of extending Rs 2,000 crore grant for the Hyderabad Metro project. The third phase of Krishna water project which was given up, is now being dusted up and sanctions are on the way with funding assurances from Jaipal Reddy.
The Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad will don the new title of Greater Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. All the newly merged municipalities will initially serve as sub offices all reporting to the super boss of MCH, Sanjay Jaju. The Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will also get a new avtaar, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) with a de-centralised setup.
For the average citizen, anything good is welcome, Greater or not so Great. What they will be worried about is the likely impact of Greater Hyderabad on property taxes, water and sewerage charges will be a bone of contention. MCH authorities concede that there will be an appreciation in taxes, but the increase will be done in a graded manner. The crucial question is about the status of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board. The infrastructure development in SCB area is nothing much to write home about. Building rules are violated with impunity and builders care two hoots for rules and regulations.
The term of the present body of MCH ends on February 11th, and corporators are waiting in anticipation to see when the proclamation for Greater Hyderabad would come about. MCH officials say that once the objections are filed, Government would go through them as a formality and reject them outright. Then the moment for notification will arrive.
Greater Hyderabad is an idea whose time has come. What it requires is the will to succeed in ensuring a better quality of life for the citizens, specially the new ones who have come into its fold. Democracy is after all for the people, by the people.
Write to us at vikram.apmedia@gmail.com
3 comments:
Greater Hyderabad is an idea whose time has come. All the KCRs , PJRs and Owaisis cannot stop this Juggernaut. It all started with Naidu’s dream of Hitech city . YSR has gone many steps ahead with concepts like Outer ring road, IIT , Metro rail, Greater Hyderabad etc. Once the outer ring road is complete and international airport becomes operative , Greater Hyderabad has all the potential to become another NCR (national capital region) and will be the hub around which at 4 districts of Telengana ( Nalgonda, Mahabub nagar, Medak , Ranga reddy ) , will see unparalled development in the next decade. The development will also spill over to the rest of Telengana . Hyderabad will become ‘Prima Donna’ of all South Indian cities. To think some silly politician can stop all this is laughable.
Opponents of Greater Hyderabad are committing a basic blunder by treating it as a Political creation of YSR. GH is the logical culmination of an Economic revolution , that started in mid nineties. Like all Economic processes, it has a dynamics/momentum of its own. The Genie is out of the bottle , to put it back is inconceivable & impossible.
Frustrated PJR, Foul mouthed KCR, clueless Devender Goud and other Political pygmies are making noises for the Gallery, fully knowing well that they cannot stop our VISAALA BHAGYA NAGARAMU ‘s Tryst with its destiny
I agree with author's point of view and first comment in the blog.
We need to create vehicles of employment sorrouding areas of GH.
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