Why Hyderabad is the bone of contention?
Hyderabad, Hyderabad and Hyderabad!! To put it out succinctly this is what the thorny issue between Andhra Rayalaseema people and Telanagana people. Everybody knows if this particular City would not have been there, one, the issue of bifurcation would not have arisen; two, even if evolved, Andhra people would not have had any objection. But, the fact is there is Hyderabad.
A City challenging the other four metropolis of India. Keeping the big Cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Chennai on the toes, the City of Hyderabad is and was always a force to be reckoned with. The City of Hyderabad remained an important focal point in all the discussions relating to bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The importance of Hyderabad is such that neither of the contending parties are ready to part the same. Now, with both sides fighting a heated battle out there for atleast a slice of the City which both parties believe earnestly that it belongs to them, let us once again visit the City of Hyderabad to see what are the thorny issues or to say even glorious features that is making the division become a vexatious issue.
These are some of the issues that the writer felt as The Issues. Some may agree and some may not agree too…!!
First, a brief look into the history: · As can be seen from the historical facts the Hyderabad being capital of erstwhile Hyderabad state under the rule of Nizam recorded excellent growth. It is because of this people from different parts of the country and also from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema migrated to Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana long time back.
Thus by the time the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed in 1956 the city of Hyderabad already attained cosmopolitan nature in relation to those times. · As recorded by Justice Srikrishna Committee the first phase of migration to Hyderabad and Telangana started when the Nizam invited farmers from the Coastal Andhra to settle and cultivate lands under Nizam Sagar dam.
After the Hyderabad was made capital of united Andhra Pradesh this migration further increased and in 1980s during the regime of Telugu Desam large investors and businessmen migrated to Hyderabad and thereby enhanced its economic strength in due course of time.
The development of Hyderabad reached all time high during the regime of Chandrababu Naidu due to robust growth of IT and ITES industry. · Though people from all the regions of the state contributed for the present status of Hyderabad, majority of the investments came from people of Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, other parts of the country and foreign investors. Therefore all these groups developed an inseparable bondage with Hyderabad.
Some interesting facts: One can understand the heart burn of those affected by the bifurcation of the State decision only when one knows about certain facts relating to Hyderabad. Therefore, following facts are placed for better appreciation of the issue. ·
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), formed in 2007. GHMC covers an area of 626 Sq.km and was formed by combining an erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) and another 12 municipalities. GHMC provides for civic services and necessary infrastructure. ·
The population of Hyderabad is four times larger than the second largest city in Andhra Pradesh, i.e. Visakhapatnam. · Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) covers a much larger area of 7073 sq.km. with a population of over 7 million. ·
HMDA is almost twice the size of Goa, which is only 3702 sq.km and much larger than the National Capital Territory of Delhi, which is 1483 sq. km. It is much larger than Union Territories like Chandigarh (114 sq.km) and Puduchery (492 sq.km).
There are more than 58 Research Centres that are funded / sponsored by the Central government and which were established post 1956 after the merger. The people of Seema Andhra are apprehensive that the new state, if formed will be bereft of any of these institutions and there will be a complete lack of research based institutions in the state.
The 40 Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including Defence and other sensitive areas which were established post 1956 after the merger. All these have come since Hyderabad is the capital of Andhra Pradesh state.
The people of Seema Andhra At least some of these would have been set up in Seemandhra if it were a separate state even earlier without getting merged. Now the Seemandhra does not have any PSU worth mentioning. It will sound very ethical if the Seemandhra people demand a fair share in some of these and ask them to relocate a portion of some of these institutions be transferred to the new state, if it is formed.
The New Delhi IIT, it is believed, has made a blue print saying that it will cost about Rs. 2.5 lakh crores to construct a Capital, if at all the AP state is bifurcated. How such huge amounts are to be provided? · As on date the Hyderabad hosts many significant institutions, · Nine educational institutions, mostly universities supported by the state government. ·
The share of modern services in Hyderabad‟s economy has increased from 24% to 39% in a relatively short period of time i.e 1999-2006.
The Hyderabad contributed about Rs. 32,000 crore out of the total earnings of Rs. 2,17,000 crore through exports of Information Technology and Information Technology Enabled Services (IT and ITES) from India in 2008-09 and this remained steady.
Out of the total Rs. 65000 crores of IT exports from Andhra Pradesh, over 63500 crores are generated only from Hyderabad as on 2012-13. A mere 1600 crores are generated in the cities of Vizag, Kakinada, Vijayawada and Tirupati. ·
The districts of Hyderabad and adjoining Rangareddy put together account for 40% of revenues from property transfers and this indicates the quantum of investments in real estate sector. · In the recent times several projects have been completed or in the process of completion in Hyderabad involving investments worth several thousands of crores of rupees. Some of the key projects are provided below. ·
The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport with current capacity of 10 million passengers and designed for an eventual capacity of 40 million passengers per annum.(Rs.2800 Crore) · The Narasimha Rao Expressway is an 11.6 km elevated Expressway connecting the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to the city.
The Outer Ring Road, which is a 159 km ring road providing connectivity to various state and national highways and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Rs.6,696 Crore). · The Hyderabad Growth Corridor initiative is a plan to develop “urban settlements”, around the Outer Ring Road. · The Hyderabad Multi-modal Transport service (MMTS) is a city train service, associated with South Central Railway.(Rs.772 Crore).
The Hyderabad Metro Rail project .The first phase envisages a route length of 72 km covering three high density traffic corridors of Hyderabad.(Rs.15,957 Crore) · More than half of the income of the State’s own revenue comes from Hyderabad and the abutting Rangareddy district. In 2012-13 out ofthe total State’s revenue of about Rs. 72,000 crores, Hyderabad and adjoining Rangareddy districts together accounted for Rs. 37,555crores through different taxes.
Now Say…… As the famous poet Sri Sri said, the labourers who have carried the stones for the construction of Tajmahal should also be honoured. If some one says that Hyderabad has been built exclusively by Telenagana people and Andhra People do not have any say in that will be hiding the facts.
( By: *Neelayapalem Vijay Kumar*)