Civic bodies fight over Telangana booty
Hyderabad: The geographical expansion of the city has started a war between the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation over sharing of revenues.
The HMDA, which lost 36 major revenue-making gram panchayats to the GHMC in the recent expansion of the state capital, is now seeking its pound of flesh. It wants the GHMC to cough up nearly Rs 1,200 crore in development charges collected from 10 surrounding municipalities in the last six years.
The 36 real estate-rich gram panchayats used to provide about Rs 200 crore per annum in development charges and layout approval besides layout regularisation schemes.
In a letter to the government, HMDA has asked that the GHMC be made to remit the development charges collected in the 10 municipalities into the Metropolitan Development Fund or give back the authority to collect the development charges in surrounding municipal circles to the HMDA.
The HMDA has also requested that it retain the powers to collect development charges in the 36 major gram panchayats, even though the GHMC will administer them.
HMDA metropolitan commissioner Neerabh Kumar Prasad confirmed to this correspondent that when the government merged 10 surrounding municipalities of Huda (now HMDA) with the MCH to form the Greater Hyderabad in April 2007, it issued a GO that said the GHMC could collect development charges in the villages, but must remit them to the Metropolitan Development Fund.
“The Metropolitan Development Fund is utilised for development of major infrastructure not only in the HMDA area, but also the GHMC area. But the GHMC has not been sharing the development charges,” Prasad said.
GHMC chief city planner G.V. Raghu, however, said the issue has been blown out of proportion. “The HMDA will utilise the money for development of infrastructure projects and the GHMC will do the same thing. We are utilising the development charges collected in 10 surrounding municipal circles.”
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