Hyderabad: There is confusion over setting up of a sixth zone as a part of decentralising administration in GHMC.
The government has given the nod to set up the sixth zone, but the ongoing survey of merging gram panchayats into the city limits has been creating a bit of a problem when it comes to marking boundaries of all existing zones.
According to highly placed sources, the municipal administration and urban development minister has given permission to set up the sixth zone. According to the proposals sent by the civic body, that it would have five circles for six zones and would decentralise parts of south zone and central zone.
However, with the state government’s decision to merge the adjoining gram panchayats into GHMC limits, the boundaries of zones may vary and there is a chance of forming new circles, which will defeat the purpose of decentralisation.
A senior GHMC official on condition of anonymity said that the issue has been brought to the notice of the government. He said if new gram panchayats are merged into greater limits, the government would explore the option of increasing the zones to eight, based on the population and area. He said that the idea of setting up new zones was to have uniformity and give citizens better administration.
However, MA&UD officials claimed that about 30 gram panchayats will merge into the GHMC after the exercise. Apart from Manikonda and Shamshabad, gram panchayats are expected to become part of the city civic body, including Nizampet, Bachupally, Pragatinagar, Poppalguda, Kokapet, Vattinagulapally, Narsingi and Manchirevula.
At present, HiTec City, Madhapur, Financial District and Gachibowli are part of Greater Hyderabad. With the merger of the 30 gram panchayats, the new city comprising of the IT corridor will become totally integrated into Greater Hyderabad. Officials also said that out of 8,684 gram panchayats in Telangana, about 35 per cent will either merge with ULBs.
