Long wait for Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: The state government is still dragging its feet on formally constituting the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) even after three months elapsed since the state legislature passed a legislation for the purpose.
The Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department (MAUD) has not yet framed the relevant rules to operationalise the new body that will replace the 33-year-old Hyderabad Urban Development Authority.
Once in place, the HMDA will cover an area of 6856 sq km spread over five districts and become the third largest metropolitan region development authority in the country after the National Capital Region of Delhi (30,000 sq km) and Bengaluru (8000 sq km). Mumbai comes next to Hyderabad with 4272 sq km.
The state Legislature passed a Bill in the Budget session for the constitution of HMDA with the Chief Minister as its chairman and municipal administration minister as vice-chairman. But so far the MAUD Department has not completed the task of framing relevant rules for the new body. The government is required to issue three notifications for putting the HMDA in place: A GO notifying the constitution of HMDA; a GO prescribing rules and procedures and another constituting the HMDA Board.
Informed sources in the MAUD said "some procedural hitches" -- like who should be nominated to the authority and the role they should play -- have been holding up the process of finalising the rules. "The issue is now almost clear and the HMDA may be notified latest by this month end," a top MAUD official asserted.
"The recent bye-elections have hampered the HMDA constitution process for more than a month. Hence the delay in the new body taking birth," a senior official, who is a member of the high-level committee constituted to frame the HMDA rules, said.
In fact, the move to create HMDA has been on for more than a year-and-a-half now. In April last, the government expanded the jurisdiction of the existing Huda, which would have later transformed into HMDA. But the government "ignored" the subsequent exercises, like drafting relevant rules and procedures, so as to give effect to the HMDA plans. It was only after the legislature passed the HMDA Act, that the MAUD Department sat down to business.
HMDA will be spread over five districts -- Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar and Medak -- covering 54 mandals.
The HMDA will be a high-powered "body corporate" comprising an 'Authority' and an Executive Committee. Ranging from the state Chief Secretary, the authority will have as members the GHMC Commissioner, principal secretaries of revenue, MAUD, panchayat raj, environment and forests, transport, roads and buildings, vice-chairmen and managing directors of APSRTC, AP Transco, APIIC besides four MLAs\MLCs representing the Hyderabad Metropolitan Region and four elected representatives from the local authorities. A Metropolitan Commissioner of the rank of additional chief secretary\principal secretary will be the member-convenor of the authority.
The Metropolitan Commissioner will also be the chairman of the Executive Committee that will be responsible for planning and implementing the decisions of HMDA. Besides, the EC will be responsible for preparation of plans, schemes and projects. "The management and administration of day-to-day affairs of the HMDA will be vested with the Executive Committee," the MAUD sources said.
A Metropolitan Development Fund with a seed capital of Rs 200 crore and a revolving fund of Rs 100 crore is being created for the HMDA. While the HMDA will get 10 per cent of the total receipts of urban local bodies under its jurisdiction, it will also have power to levy specific cess for capital infrastructure projets. The HMDA will also raise funds through bonds, debentures and external loans to carry out its tasks.