Hyderabad: GHMC commissioner Somesh Kumar has come under criticism for acting unilaterally on the issue of the Industrial Area Local Authorities (IALA).

Industries have alleged that Mr Kumar is trying to merge the 16 IALAs into the GHMC and have vowed to oppose it. On Monday, IALA representatives met under the chairmanship of Mr R.J. Mohan Rao and Mr K. Sudhir Reddy and formed an eight-member panel to take up the controversial merger plan with the government.

The panel will meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. If the government does not react, they are prepared to approach the courts if necessary, sources said. Mr Kumar had reportedly submitted a plan to chief secretary Rajiv Sharma on March 9 to merge the IALAs into the GHMC. He had said this would improve administration, tax collection, allotting building permissions etc., which are currently controlled by the IALAs.



The industry bodies say the proposal was turned down by the chief secretary, but sources said the government has not yet taken a view on it.

The issue reached a flash point after the GHMC credited to its account its share of tax collections from the IALAs for 2015-16, well in advance. Normally, this money is to be paid to the corporation at the end of the financial year. This advance collection infuriated the IALAs. The IALAs were formed in 1994 and have a commissioner, a municipal council and similar systems that are in place in municipal bodies.

As per the arrangement worked out by the government, 8 per cent of the total tax and other collections would go to public libraries and 35 per cent to the GHMC, leaving 59.8 per cent to IALAs. The commissioners or elected bodies of IALAs can collect taxes, make building plan approvals and undertake development works like laying of roads, street lighting, parks, solid waste management etc. The IALAs are opposed to the GHMC commissioner’s move because if the merger is carried out, they will be at the mercy of GHMC for every issue.