Contradictory statements from Komatireddy, Sridhar Babu on GHMC bifurcation trigger confusion

Recently, Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy announced plans to divide the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) into four separate corporations, citing administrative efficiency. However, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu contradicted this statement during a Legislative Council session, clarifying that there were no such plans under consideration by the State government.

Hyderabad: Here is yet another classic case of lack of coordination and communication among Ministers in the Congress government.

It was not long ago that Roads and Buildings Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy announced that the State government was planning to divide the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) into four corporations. However, on Saturday, in sharp contrast to Venkat Reddy’s statement, Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu said in the Legislative Council that there were no such plans.

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On October 4, the R&B Minister participated in the Assocham’s Urban Infrastructure Summit – 2024 held here in the city. Industrialists, realtors, academicians and officials had also attended the meeting. Addressing the gathering, Venkat Reddy had declared that GHMC would be divided into four corporations and the exercise would be done “after the elections” (possibly the polls to the GHMC).

“Population in Greater Hyderabad is almost 1.5 crore. That’s the reason the State government is planning to divide the GHMC into four corporations. There will be four Mayors after the coming elections,” Venkat Reddy had said.

However, in a conflicting version, Sridhar Babu said on Saturday that there were no plans to divide GHMC. Giving clarifications on the GHMC (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the Legislative Council, the Minister said the government had no plans to divide GHMC into three or four corporations. There was no truth in the campaign that the entire region within Outer Ring Road (ORR) limit would be brought under the GHMC jurisdiction. The corporations under ORR limits would continue to exist, the Minister had stated.

There have been reports that the Congress government was contemplating to divide GHMC into four corporations. This was basically planned on the lines of four Urban Local Bodies in New Delhi. In fact, in March, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had directed officials to work out plans for the civic body considering its rapid development. However, with his own Ministers now coming out with conflicting statements, there is confusion on what is actually on the cards for the GHMC.