Hyderabad, Dec 22 (NationPress) The Telangana High Court has decided not to intervene in the state government's initiative to reorganise the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

A division bench consisting of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya and Justice Gadi Praveen Kumar dismissed the petitions that contested the delimitation of municipal wards accompanied by the integration of 27 urban local bodies into the GHMC.

The state government previously issued a notification to expand the number of GHMC wards from 150 to 300. Legal petitions have been submitted to the High Court challenging this notification.

The government argued that the ward delimitation was carried out based on a report provided by the Centre for Good Governance (CGG).

In response, the petitioners' counsel contended that the government failed to make the CGG report public and did not allow ample time for submitting objections.

The state government informed the court that details regarding delimitation had already been made available on the GHMC website and that 3,100 objections had been received and were under consideration.

Previously, on December 17, a single judge directed the GHMC to publish comprehensive details regarding all 300 wards. The GHMC was instructed to upload ward-specific population data and verified geographical maps of all wards within 24 hours.

However, the GHMC filed a writ appeal against the single judge's order. Subsequently, the division bench revoked this order, mandating the GHMC to publish population details and maps only for two wards, as the petitioners had contested the delimitation of just those wards.

The integration of the 27 surrounding urban local bodies with the GHMC will render it the largest municipal corporation in India, both in terms of area and population.

The GHMC's jurisdiction will extend from the current 650 square kilometers to 2,050 square kilometers, while the estimated population is expected to rise from 1.12 crore to 1.34 crore.