HYDERABAD: A bench of the Telangana High Court has sought the response of the state government to a writ petition challenging the recently promulgated Ordinance No. 3 of 2024, amending the Municipalities Act, 2019.
The petition was filed by Kaitpaka Yadaiah of Hayathnagar in Rangareddy district, and another individual.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Reddy, directed the state government, represented by the chief secretary, secretary to the Legislative Affairs and Law department and principal secretaries of the Municipal Administration and Panchayat Raj departments, to produce the relevant records for review.
Additionally, the bench granted three weeks to the government pleader to file a counter and seek instructions.
Ordinance No. 3 of 2024 proposes major changes to the state’s urban landscape, seeking to expand the urban area up to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and beyond by merging 51 gram panchayats with 13 municipalities from the Rangareddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri, and Sangareddy districts, all of which are located around the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.
The state government has envisioned a unified urban local body by extending the GHMC’s jurisdiction to the ORR, potentially forming a new entity tentatively named the “Hyderabad Greater City Corporation” or “Maha Hyderabad”. This entity would encompass several municipal corporations, municipalities and GPs, consolidating them under a single administrative body.