Suddenly,there is lot of speculation on the future of Hyderabad as the Congress high command grapples,or rather wrestles,with protracted issue of separate Telangana statehood.It is being said that votaries of Telangana state may not be averse to sharing Hyderabad as a joint capital with their Seemandhra counterparts for a limited period.
But the larger question is: which Hyderabad they are pondering about Is it Hyderabad district,Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC),Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) area or Mega Hyderabad that Srikrishna Committee has mooted in its voluminous report Is it Hyderabad as a Centrally Administered Area (CAR) or as a Union Territory (UT)
All these options/formulations on the jurisdiction and status of Hyd in the event of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh are fraught with serious implications.The truncated Hyderabad district,as it exists now,came into being in August 1978,when the erstwhile Hyderabad district was bifurcated to carve out Ranga Reddy district.Hyderabad district,which includes the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) and Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB),now comprises 217 sq km and has a population of 40 lakh as per 2011 census. The GHMC, formed in April 2007 with the merger of erstwhile MCH and 12 adjoining municipalities in Ranga Reddy and Medak districts,consists of 650 sq km and population of 77 lakh.The HMDA,constituted in August 2008 with the expansion of Hyderabad Urban development Authority (Huda) limits and merger of Cyberabad Development Authority (CDA) and Hyderabad Airport Development Authority (Hada) with Huda, is spread over 55 mandals in five districts, Hyd, Ranga Reddy,Medak,Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar, with total area of 7,228 sq km and population of 100 lakh.As many as 849 villages come under HMDA area. While offering optimal solutions/options, Srikrishna Committee talks about Hyderabad as a UT under two separate options. Option I envisages bifurcation of AP into Seemand hra and Telangana with Hyderabad as a UT and the two states developing their own capitals in due course.The Union Territo ry of Hyderabad,as per this option,would be co-terminus with the HMDA area.Under Option-IV,SKC suggests bifurcation of AP into Seem-andhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis as separate UT.To quote the Committee re port: This Union Territory will have geo graphical linkage and contiguity via Nal gonda district in the south-east to Guntur district in Coastal Andhra and via Mah bubnagar district in the south to Kurnool district in Rayalaseema. The Committee points out that this option flows from Option-II which highlights the characteristics of Hyderabad as a global city.The citys boundaries have recently been revised to extend the municipal limits from the 175 sq km of the erstwhile MCH to 625 sq km of the current GHMC.The erstwhile Huda has been replaced by an expanded HMDA headed by the chief minister,with a substantial area of 7,073 sq km,which is about twice the size of the state of Goa. In this option,an extended Union Territory of approximately 12,000 sq km has been proposed.The extended Union Territory will comprise 67 mandals,1,330 villages,12,430 sq km. The population of this area is around 120 lakh.Both HMDA and Mega Hyderabad proposed by Srikrishna Committee include large parts of Telangana hinterland and encroach into the administrative jurisdiction of half of the 10 districts in Telangana region,including Hyderabad.
Hyderabad district has 15 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies (Hyderabad and Secunderabad) but the GHMC area covers 24 assembly constituencies and five Lok Sabha seats, including Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency (PC) and parts of Chevella and Medak PCs. HMDA consists of 34 assembly seats and seven Lok Sabha constituencies,including parts of Mahbubnagar and Bhongir PCs.Mega Hyderabad as suggested by SKC will have 38 assembly seats and nine Lok Sabha constituencies,including parts of Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda PCs.If the areas coming under some of these ACs and PCs are redrawn,the SKC area will have 35 ACs and seven Lok Sabha seats.The rest of Telangana will be left with 84 ACs and 12 PCs! This is hardly something that Telangana protagonists can cheer about.
Moreover,the future of Hyderabad cannot be decided by claimants from either side of the political divide (Telangana and Seemandhra),nor by those sitting on judgment on this contentious issue in Delhi.The real stakeholders in Hyderabad are its citizens,and their concerns and aspirations cannot be brushed aside by other players.Mumbai did not become a Union Territory when Bombay state was bifurcated to form Maharashtra and Gujarat states in 1960.Chennai did not become joint capital of Andhra and Madras states when composite Madras state was bifurcated in 1953.These historical facts may well clear the air on the future of Hyderabad.
Syed Amin Jafri - The writer is a member of AP Legislative Council and journalist
(Source-toi)
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