Hyderabad has emerged as a mega city with the merger of 27 municipalities into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), GHMC Commissioner R.V. Karnan said on Friday.

The Commissioner was speaking after inaugurating the newly established Rajendranagar and Golkonda Zonal Commissioner offices. In his presence, Anurag Jayanti assumed charge as Zonal Commissioner of Rajendranagar, while G. Mukunda Reddy took charge as Zonal Commissioner of Golkonda.

Commisioner Karnan said the merger had resulted in a significant expansion of the city, with the GHMC area increasing from 650 sq. km to 2,053 sq. km. To ensure administrative convenience in view of the expanded jurisdiction, the State government had increased the number of GHMC wards from 150 to 300, doubled the number of zones from six to 12, and expanded the number of circles from 30 to 60.

He noted that new zones had been created at Uppal, Quthbullapur, Malkajgiri, Shamshabad, Golkonda and Rajendranagar. The establishment of additional zonal and circle offices would enable faster and more accessible delivery of civic services to the public, besides accelerating development works across the city, the Commissioner said.