GHMC Trifurcation: New Era of Decentralised Urban Governance Begins

The Telangana government has initiated a sweeping restructuring of Hyderabad’s urban governance, breaking up the civic administration into three municipal corporations in what it describes as a decentralisation reform . Through G.O. Rt. No. 55 issued by the Municipal Administration Department , the state reorganised the existing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation framework into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (reconstituted), Cyberabad Municipal Corporation and Malkajgiri Municipal Corporation . The decision follows rapid urban expansion , population pressure and the administrative strain that followed the recent merger of surrounding municipalities into the metropolitan structure.

Officials say the objective is to make governance more responsive and efficient by reducing the scale of a single mega civic body and enabling decentralised governance . The government had merged 27 peripheral urban local bodies into GHMC in December last year, significantly expanding its jurisdiction and increasing the number of wards. The trifurcation is being positioned as a corrective administrative step to manage service delivery , urban planning , sanitation , infrastructure works and traffic management more effectively across different growth corridors of the city.

Under the new structure, the Cyberabad corporation will cover the Serilingampally, Kukatpally and Qutbullapur zones, largely representing the IT and western growth belt. The Malkajgiri corporation will include Malkajgiri, LB Nagar and Uppal zones in the northeastern and eastern stretches. The remaining historic and central zones including areas such as Charminar, Khairatabad, Secunderabad and surrounding regions will form the reorganised GHMC. Each corporation will function as an independent civic entity, though coordination will remain crucial for shared metropolitan services that cut across boundaries.

To steer the transition, senior IAS officer Jayesh Ranjan , Special Chief Secretary , has been appointed Special Officer for all three corporations. Commissioners have also been posted: R.V. Karnan for GHMC, G. Srijana for Cyberabad and T. Vinay Krishna Reddy for Malkajgiri. Their immediate focus is on administrative continuity , staff allocation, asset division and maintaining uninterrupted civic services.

The move comes after the GHMC council’s term ended earlier this month, placing the civic bodies under special administrative oversight. While the government expresses confidence that the reorganisation will speed up development and improve citizen services, experts note that fiscal adjustments, coordination between corporations and the timeline for fresh civic elections will be key factors in determining how smoothly the new governance model functions in Hyderabad’s rapidly evolving metropolitan landscape.