Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is the civic body that oversees Hyderabad, the capital and largest city in the State of Telangana. It is the Local Government for the Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Its geographical area covers most of the urban development agency the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA). As many as 64 ex-officio members, including five Lok Sabha MPs (Member of Parliament) whose constituencies are in GHMC jurisdiction vote in GHMC election.

History: In the year 1869, Municipal administration was first introduced for the city of Hyderabad. The city of Hyderabad was divided into four and the suburbs of Chaderghat were divided into five divisions. The whole management of both the city and the suburbs was handled by the then City Police Commissioner, Kotwal-e-Baldia. In the same year, Sir Salar Jung-1, the then Prime Minister of Hyderabad State under the Nizam, has constituted the Department of Municipal and Road Maintenance. He also appointed a Municipal Commissioner for Hyderabad Board and Chaderghat Board. At that time, city was just 55 km2 with a population of 3.5 lakhs. In 1886, the suburban area of Chaderghat was handed over to a separate officer and then Chaderghat became Chaderghat Municipality. In 1921 Hyderabad Municipality has increased to 84 km2. In 1933, Chaderghat Municipality was merged with Hyderabad Municipality to form Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and was given statutory status under the Hyderabad Municipal Act. During the following year (1934), the first elections were held for Municipal Corporation and a Standing Committee was appointed at that time. In the year 1937, Jubilee Hills Municipality was formed by the amalgamation of Jubilee Hills and Banjara Hills. Later, in 1942, the corporation status for the city has been removed due to some issues. In the year 1945, Secunderabad Municipality was formed. Again in 1950, Hyderabad regained its lost Corporation status along with the amalgamation of Jubilee Hills Municipality.

Municipal corporation of hyderabad: The Hyderabad Corporation and the Secunderabad Corporation were established in 1950 via the Hyderabad Corporation Act. Jubilee Hills Municipality merged in Hyderabad Corporation during this time. In 1955, the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act merged the municipal corporations overseeing Hyderabad and neighboring Secunderabad. Once again in 1955, both the municipal corporations of Hyderabad and Secunderabad were merged to form Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH). In 1956, Hyderabad became capital of Andhra Pradesh after the state was formed.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation: The GHMC was formed on April 16, 2007 by merging 12 municipalities and eight gram panchayats with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad. The municipalities are LB Nagar, Gaddi Annaram, Uppal Kalan, Malkajgiri, Kapra, Alwal, Qutubullapur, Kukatpally, Serilingampalle, Rajendranagar, Ramachandrapuram, and Patancheru. These municipalities are in Rangareddy district and Medak district. The panchayats are Shamshabad, Satamarai, Jallapalli, Mamdipalli, Mankhal, Almasguda, Sardanagar and Ravirala.

To this effect, the Government Order 261 was initially issued in July 2005. Now, the Supreme Court rejected the plea to interfere into the matter, the Government of Andhra Pradesh passed the GO 261 that is related to the creation of Greater Hyderabad on April 16, 2007. Earlier, the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad had a population of 4.5 millions living in an area of 172 km². The new urban agglomeration sprawls across 650 square kilometers with a population of 6.7 millions. The erstwhile city of the Nizams has now transformed into an area far greater.

The Government has decided to divide the GHMC into five zones (south, east, north, west and central zones), 17 circles and 150 wards. Each ward would cover about 37,000 people. The GHMC is headed by a Commissioner and also has a Special Commissioner both of whom belong to IAS. Each zone will have a Zonal Commissioner, an officer of the rank of Additional Commissioner with a Deputy Municipal Commissioners heading every circle. There will also be a separate engineering wing with an Engineer in Chief and Chief Engineer at head office level and a superintending engineer for each zone; a town planning wing with Additional Commissioner (Planning) and a Chief City Planner at the head office level and a city planner for each zone.

The GHMC comprises the erstwhile Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, plus 10 municipalities and eight panchayats in Ranga Reddy district, two municipalities in Medak district. The 10 municipalities in Ranga Reddy district are: LB Nagar, Gaddi Annaram, Uppal Kalan, Malkajgiri, Kapra, Alwal, Qutubullapur, Kukatpally, Serilingampalle and Rajendranagar. The eight panchayats in Ranga Reddy district are: Shamshabad, Satamarai, Jallapalli, Mamdipalli, Mankhal, Sardanagar and Ravirala. The 2 municipalities in Medak district are: Ramachandrapuram and Patancheru.

Administration: The GHMC is headed by a Municipal Commissioner, an IAS officer. The commissioner wields the executive power of the house. A quinquennial election is held to elect corporators to power. The corporators are responsible for overseeing that their constituencies have the basic civic infrastructure in place, and that there is no lacuna on the part of the authorities. The Mayor is the head of the house. The GHMC is responsible for administering and providing basic infrastructure to the city.

•  Building and Maintenance of roads, streets and flyovers.
•  Public Municipal schools.
•  Street lighting.
•  Maintenance of parks and open spaces.
•  Garbage disposal and street cleanliness.
•  Urban development and city planning of new areas.
•  Registering of births and deaths.
•  Health and Sanitations.