The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has vowed a marked improvement in municipal services this year, with sanitation named as the priority area. Commissioner R.V. Karnan told reporters that the corporation will pursue a month-long intensive campaign, covering all zones including newly annexed areas, to clear abandoned vehicles, remove obstructions and tackle bulk garbage points.
Hyderabad sanitation drive: priorities and actions
Mr Karnan said a three-day mega sanitation drive has already been completed and warned that penal action will continue against violations. To date the GHMC has issued 10,752 challans totalling ₹2.34 crore. Citizens have been urged to report bulk waste points and abandoned vehicles to the GHMC control room on 040-21111111 or 8125966586.
In a structural change intended to improve waste handling, Assistant Medical Officers of Health have been relieved of sanitation duties and engineering staff have been deployed in their place. The move is aimed at professionalising operations and boosting primary collection, where officials say further gains are expected after strong performance in secondary and tertiary collection.
Officials also highlighted public health work carried out during the year: 9,656 food safety inspections were conducted and 65 violations detected, with penalties of around ₹14.84 lakh imposed. GHMC is pursuing the establishment of a ₹5 crore Basic Food Testing Laboratory in KPHB Colony to strengthen testing capacity.
Revenue mobilisation has been another key focus. A combination of GIS property mapping and a drone survey identified 1.02 lakh unassessed or under-assessed properties. Integration of property tax records with TGSPDCL electricity data has already yielded an additional ₹7.40 crore in revenue. The corporation reported that nearly 14 lakh properties were surveyed using mobile applications for ground truthing; quality checks are complete for 4.41 lakh properties and field verification continues for newly assessed entries.
GHMC has also completed a broad civic asset mapping exercise, cataloguing 1,502 parks, 599 public toilets, 376 sports complexes and 34 major GHMC sports facilities. A ward-wise storm water drain mapping programme has recorded 1,121 kilometres of drains, 24,147 catch-pits and 291 culverts. That dataset will feed into the Telangana Core Urban Region Storm Water Master Plan to support scientific flood mitigation, capacity analysis and long-term infrastructure planning.
On animal control, the corporation said it inspected 1,064 institutional premises in line with Supreme Court directions and cleared 2,897 stray dogs from those locations, relocating animals to shelters.
Commissioner Karnan framed the measures as part of a broader push to improve service delivery and civic standards. With enforcement, technical upgrades and targeted revenue drives, GHMC aims to convert recent ratings and awards — including sixth rank in Swachh Survekshan 2025, a 7-Star Garbage Free City rating and Water+ ODF re-certification — into sustained operational gains.
Civic officials said residents should expect increased enforcement and faster response times as the new measures are rolled out, while longer-term projects such as the food testing laboratory and the storm water master plan progress through planning and implementation stages.
Key Takeaways:
- GHMC announces a focused Hyderabad sanitation drive to prioritise cleanliness and road safety across all zones.
- Officials report achievements including sixth place in Swachh Survekshan 2025 and 7-Star Garbage Free City rating.
- GIS mapping and drone surveys identified 1.02 lakh unassessed or under-assessed properties, yielding additional revenue.
- Plans include a ₹5 crore food testing laboratory and extensive storm water drain mapping to support flood mitigation.
