Whenever the union government is on the verge of taking a decision on the demerger of Telangana, forces opposed to the move demand that Hyderabad city be converted into a Union Territory. Some say it should be made into a specially administered region and declared as common capital for Telangana and Andhra states.
While these people cite all and sundry reasons for making Hyderabad a UT, the main reason is that they can’t digest the fact that Hyderabad would become the capital of Telangana.
Hyderabad is not the only city with migrants from other regions and states. In fact, no city in the world ever grows into a city, without influx of migrants. But, a few recent migrants to Hyderabad, are unnecessarily creating an issue over the status of Hyderabad.
The lobby that is raising the bogey of migrant’s safety again and again has vested interest on the city. This lobby fears that a new Telangana government would expose all their misdeeds in issues like illegal sale of government lands.
Added to this, some journalists, with half-baked knowledge about the issue, also frequently bring up the subject of Hyderabad as UT or Centrally Administered Region.
Let us examine some ground level facts that prove Hyderabad can’t survive even for 24 Hours without Telangana.
A cursory look at Telangana map confirms that Hyderabad is in fact the heart of Telangana. Hyderabad is surrounded by Ranga Reddy district, which in turn is surrounded by Medak, Nalgonda, and Mahabub Nagar – all three districts of Telangana.
The closest connection with the Andhra region is about 200 Kms away. It is precisely for this reason that Hyderabad cannot be shared with Andhra as a capital city. Making it a joint-capital is not only a senseless move, but will also deprive Andhra state of a very important growth engine – viz capital city.
Now let us examine how Hyderabad has a umbilical connection with Telangana to meet all its essential needs.
Water Supply:
Hyderabad depends on Telangana for meeting its drinking water needs. 5 projects that supply water to Hyderabad are located in Telangana. These are:
Akkampalli Reservoir, Nalgonda, Telangana
Manjeera Reservoir, Medak, Telangana
Osmansagar Lake, Ranga Reddy, Telangana
Himayat Sagar Lake, Ranga Reddy, Telangana
Yellampally Project (proposed), Karimnagar, Telangana
It is clear from the map above that all of Hyderabad’s water resources are located in the heart of Telangana.
What’s more, the city is completely dependent on Telangana to even dispose its sewage!
Hyderabad Metro Water Works and Sewarage Board empties Hyderabad city’s sewage into the Musi river, which flows through Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda districts in Telangana.
Power Supply:
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Zone draws power from the APCPDCL’s central power grid, whose 220 KV EHT sub-stations are located at Chandrayangutta, Shivrampally, Shapurnagar and Moula Ali – all four within Telangana area.
The Hyderabad Ring-main Transmission Scheme, the core of Power Supply system to Hyderabad, consists of five 400 kv Substations of Gajwel, Mamidipally, Ghanapur, Malkaram and Eddumailaram. All these are located in Telangana.
Even the HT transmission lines bringing power to Hyderabad city from Nagarjuna Sagar, Srisailam Hydel Power Plants and Kothagudem and Ramagundam Thermal Power Plants pass through Telangana districts.
So, it is clear that any attempt to separate Hyderabad from Telangana, is bound to anger the Telangana people, who in-turn can simply cripple the city’s power supply system.
Employee & Trade Unions
Another important dimension that should be kept in mind by the union government, before trying to meddle with Hyderabad, is that all the major government essential services are manned by employees from Telangana region.
In the recently held trade union elections, Telangana employee unions have swept the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, The Hyderabad Metro Water Works and Sewerage Board, and AP State Road Transport Corporation. A majority of field staff of AP Transmission Corporation belong to Telangana region.
All these employee and trade unions have been very active in the Telangana statehood movement.
Central Administration is Impossible
We have seen instances of some vested interests proposing some kind of Central Administration for Hyderabad city. In view of the dependence of Hyderabad on Telangana, such a move is impossible.
Telangana activists have warned several times that any attempts to separate Hyderabad from Telangana would be met with severe consequences. To demonstrate this, noted Telangana activist, Venepally Panduranga Rao, had sat on a protest deeksha at Kodandapur Water Plant – from where Hyderabad gets Krishna river’s water.
Telangana people have time and again reiterated that any attempt to impose Central Administration over Hyderabad would not be tolerated. Any such hasty move will only lead to massive agitation by Telangana people, which will only cripple the city.