Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, December 17, directed the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to publish ward-wise population details and maps within the next 24 hours.
The court has said that objections can be filed two days after the publication of official data.
Justice Vijaysen Reddy took up the hearing of the petitions, which objected to the delimitation process, saying it was carried out in a hurried and unscientific manner without taking note of geographical or population data.
Arguing for the state, advocate general A Sudershan Reddy, said that the maps and population data has not been published for administrative reasons.
He said the process is being carried out to benefit the people and assured that all 3,000 objections received from the public will be disposed of appropriately.
GHMC delimitation
On December 9, GHMC issued a preliminary delimitation notification after the state government announced the decision to merge of 27 urban local bodies into the corporation. The notification doubled the number of wards from the current 150 to 300.
Citizens were asked to submit their suggestions or objections at the circle/ zonal offices within a week. However, the notification was met with severe criticism from all major political parties, as no GHMC general body meeting was held before its publication.
Parties have questioned the lack of transparency in the delimitation process, flagged the urgency with which the decision was made, and expressed concern over the lack of consultation from parties and the public.
