WANTED A ROADMAP FOR TACKLING THE URBANISATION ISSUES OF

TELANGANA - PART 1

-Vishwanath Sista

Retd. Director(Planning),HMDA

1. There was a Workshop on Bangarau Telangana in the context of the Sustainable

Development Goals and the commissioning of a Center for Sustainable Development
Goals held at the Dr MCR HRD Institute, Jubilee Hills on 13-14 July 2017. One of the
Sessions was on Urbanization issues. Disappointedly, nothing about Telanganas
urbanization issues and problems were discussed, while the said Workshop focused only
on sectoral issues and challenges of Health, education and agriculture. Even the issues
and challenges of Industrialization , demography and employment generation were
glossed over.

2. As a spatial planner, I feel that urbanization and industrialization is the key realm
that the future development of Telangana hinges on. Industrialisation is sine qua non of
urbanization of Telangana. The sustainable development of other sectors however
cannot be discounted. However these form a separate layer and realm of socio-
economic development of Telangana.

3. Coming to urbanization of Telangana, the statistics are misleading and the urban
development are skewed and lopsided. It is Hyderabad-centric. In terms of National
average, Telangana is the 4th most urbanised state in the country, the first being
Tamilnadu (48% urbansied) followed by Kerala (47% urbanized)and Maharashtra (45%
urbanized) Nearly 40% of the States population is urban and this figure is likely to
surpass the 50% mark by 2041, i.e., Telangana would become a urban state by 2041,
thanks to the unbridled growth of Hyderabad Metropolitan Region. However, if
Hyderabad metropolitan region is removed, then the urbanization figure of Telangana
comes down sharply to less than 17 %.Though Telangana is still predominantly a rural
state, there is a clear trend towards faster urbanisation in the state. The urban growth
in the state has a skewed pattern with the number of towns almost doubled in a
decade, nearly one-third of the state's population live in the capital city of Hyderabad.

TABLE 1

Agglomerations & Cities/Major Agglomerations/Secondary Cities of

Telangana
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Name Population (2011 Census)

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1 Hyderabad 76,77,018
2 Warangal 7,53,438
3 Nizamabad 3,11,152
4 Karimnagar 2,97,447
5 Khammam 2,62,255
6 Ramagundam 2,52,308
7 Mehboobnagar 2,10,258
8 Mancherial 1,63,552
9 Nalgonda 1,54,326
10 Adilabad 1,39,383

TABLE 2

The other towns of Telangana

Population Population Population

Name Status Census (Cf) Census (Cf) Census (Cf)
1991-03-01 2001-03-01 2011-03-01
Achampet Town ... 18,213 20,721
Armur CityOG ... 55,194 64,023
Asifbd Town 14,974 19,330 23,059
Badepalle Town 25,226 29,829 32,598
Bnswda Town ... 23,749 28,384
Bellampalle (Belampalli) City 66,780 66,792 55,841
Bhadrchalam Town 35,833 42,650 50,087
Bhainsa City 29,715 41,331 49,764
Bhongr City 40,744 50,407 53,339
Bhupalpalle Town ... ... 42,387
Bodhan City 64,406 71,520 77,573
Bollaram Town ... 13,115 34,667
Chennr Town ... 15,466 23,579
Devarkonda Town 21,089 27,434 29,731
Farrukhnagar Town 23,565 34,470 45,675
Gadwl CityOG 40,742 53,560 63,177
Gajwel Town ... 20,613 24,961
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Ghatkesar Town 12,645 18,278 19,763

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 Population Population Population
Name Status Census (Cf) Census (Cf) Census (Cf)
1991-03-01 2001-03-01 2011-03-01
Jagtil CityOG 67,591 85,521 103,930
Jangaon City 34,305 43,996 52,394
Kagazngr (Kothpet) City 57,535 59,734 57,583
Kalwakurthy Town ... 25,146 28,060
Kmreddy City 48,666 64,496 80,315
Kodad Town ... 50,147 64,234
Koratla City 40,080 54,012 66,504
Kottagdem Aggl 102,137 105,266 119,501
Kyathampalle 34,157 42,273 32,385
Madhira Town ... 19,448 22,716
Mahabubabad Town ... 36,474 42,851
Mandamarri Aggl 66,145 66,596 84,737
Manuguru City 30,076 32,893 32,091
Medak CityOG 35,775 41,945 46,880
Medchal Town ... 21,730 35,611
Metpalle City ... 41,224 50,902
Miryalguda CityOG 65,879 91,359 104,918
Ngar Karnl Town 18,977 26,157 26,801
Nakrekal Town ... 25,273 29,126
Nryanpet Town 33,519 37,563 41,752
Narsampet Town ... 26,948 30,963
Nirmal City 57,761 75,254 88,433
Ploncha [Palwancha] City 53,102 69,088 80,199
Peddapalle Town ... 36,221 41,171
Sadasivpet CityOG 30,915 36,334 47,920
Sangreddy Aggl 50,123 57,113 83,858
Sarapaka Town ... 17,222 22,149
Sathupalle Town ... 28,049 31,857
Siddipet Aggl 54,091 61,809 114,091
Singpur ... 23,468 20,061
Sirsilla CityOG 50,048 65,314 83,186
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Surypet CityOG 60,630 94,585 106,805

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Tndr City 45,517 57,941 65,115

 Population Population Population
Name Status Census (Cf) Census (Cf) Census (Cf)
1991-03-01 2001-03-01 2011-03-01
Vemulawada R Town ... 29,758 33,706
Vikrbd City 39,215 42,410 53,143
Wanaparthy City 38,862 50,114 60,949
Yellandu CityOG 38,675 42,421 35,056
Zahirbd Aggl 39,613 44,589 82,442

4. Hyderabad Metropolitan Region-Concentration on Hyderabad

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Region covers the Hyderabad Urban Agglomeration and
adjoining rural areas of 10 districts (most of them covering partly in the HMR) of
Telangana (out of total 31) with an area of about 7400 sq km. It has a population of
more than 110 lakhs and is poised to become the 4th largest urban agglomeration by
2031 with a population expected to cross 185 lakhs equaling that of Bangalore
Conurbation. Both are expected to overtake Chennai urban agglomeration (where
population is stabilizing and is pegged at 130 lakhs expected by 2031).

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Region has more than half of the total urban population of
Telangana, and covers more than 2/3rds the total urban area of Telangana State.

It is a big magnet for industries (both manufacturing and knowledge based) ,

administrative, education, health, research, defence, recreational and cultural facilities.

5. The stark reality of urban and regional economics

Like other similar primate cities growth and development in India like Mumbai,
Bangalore etc. Hyderabad too was bestowed more than the required attention by
successive State Governments.

In the last 50 years, policy makers lapped up the Metropolitan Pattern and primacy
element of regional economics, devoting all attention to Hyderabad. This applied
equally to the people of undivided Andhra Pradesh as well as to the people of the
Telangana region, who all flocked around Hyderabad, neglecting the secondary cities
and smaller towns of Telangana. The now little known Vijayapuri-the Nagarjunasagar
Project township, never developed. Nizamabad, Kottagudem and some other key
towns stagnated and Warangal did not develop as contemplated. Stark disparity exists
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among districts in Telangana as only a few districts continue have reaped the benefits
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of industrialisation. Industrial development is still concentrated around Hyderabad, with

Rangareddy and Medak districts having about 50 per cent of all the manufacturing units
in state.
Over two decades 1991-2011, the population growth rate of most of the Telangana
towns listed in the Table 2 above, declined. Vijayapuri and Bellampally actually
recorded a fall in population even in absolute terms. Sangareddy, Siddipet, Bhongir,
Mahboobnagar and Zahirabad the towns within close proximity of Hyderabad metro
region alone recorded some growth. Within the Telangana region, growth happened
only in areas close to Hyderabad.

Hyderabad has created a backwash effect for Telangana.

6. The primacy and backwash effect of Hyderabad

Hyderabad Metropolitan area grew at the cost of smaller towns. This harsh reality has
to dawn on the policy makers of Telangana and ensuring in their quest for balanced
development and a golden future.

In 1965, V L S Prakasa Rao, an eminent urban geographer, wrote a paper in which he

examined alternate scenarios of urban growth in Telangana. He advocated a
hierarchical network of 27 selected towns spread over the region in a Five-Tier
Pattern as opposed to concentration of growth in metropolitan Hyderabad and a few
large centres.

In his paper, Prakasa Rao highlighted that the dominance of Hyderabad and the fact
that growth was taking place in only one or two other towns was contributing to urban
disorder if not chaos. Prakasa Rao advocated a network of small and medium towns in
Telangana, interconnected in a hierarchical manner as in a spiders web. Dwelling upon
Walter Christaller Central-Place Theory, he sought to establish a mathematical
relationship in which every town will have upwards and downward linkages with other
towns in the region based on employment, agricultural markets, services and
manufacturing among other aspects.

7. For effective planning and development of Telangana region, Prakasa Rao discussed
three alternative patterns of regional urban development for the future network of
towns in the region. Firstly, he talked about a Five-Tier Pattern based on the concept of
urban hierarchy and central-place theory. Secondly, he put forward a Multiple Urban-
Industrial Nuclei Pattern of development. And lastly, he proposed a Metropolitan
Pattern, which was centered around the city of Hyderabad. Prakasa Rao opined that the
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Multi-Industrial Nuclei Pattern, which identified only five major centres besides
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Hyderabad, would eclipse the development of small and medium towns in Telangana.
He concluded that the Five-Tier Pattern which covered a wide network of 27 urban
centres spread all over the region was the best option for the region as well as for the
towns concerned.

8. A large number of studies conducted after the above, regarding a suitable urban
pattern for Andhra Pradesh strongly recommended adopting a conscious policy of
developing small towns in the state. According to urban planning jargon, Andhra
Pradesh state had a primate pattern similar to the pattern in Karnataka, West Bengal
and Maharashtra where the state capital is a mega city and the next in size towns are
far smaller.

9. As recent as 2014, a Study was conducted by the Center for Urban Development
Studies, Dr MCR HRD Institute with emphasis on adopting the Integrated
Development Clusters Approach for development of Telangana and suggested for
development of 12 such Development Clusters (other than the Hyderabad Metropolitan
region) which covers 24 cities and towns of Telangana.

10. The State Government in the meanwhile has advocated an urban development
policy of developing 27 major urban development areas ( UDAs in all Districts) through
the Urban Development Authority mechanism.

11. Budgetary spending lopsidedness

That the Hyderabad Metropolitan region hogs away most of the budgetary allocation in
the urban sector is borne from the fact that more than 90% is invested in the
Hyderabad Metro region while rest of the urban areas of Telangana are given a
pittance.

Apart from the above, consider this :

on an average, more than Rs. 5000 per capita per annum is invested in the Hyderabad
Metropolitan region, and this per capita per annum figure would go up what with the
Phase II of the Metro rail, Phase II of the Godavari waters, construction and
development of the Regional Ring Road about 50 Km away from Hyderabad on the
anvil, development of the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) Region
around Hyderabad with a massive investment of more than Rs. 1 lakh Crores, etc.

12. Protagonists of development economics say that even if a fraction or say 10% of
this per capita annual expenditure is distributed to the remaining Telangana urban
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centers, coupled with an accelerated urban development strategy (as suggested by

CUDS, Dr. MCR HRD Institute in 2014, which is non-Hyderabad-centric ( for example,
the 12 major Development Clusters identified by Dr MCR HRD Institute spread
uniformly throughout the State), then in the next 30 years (next generation) we may
see a really Bangaru Telangana with accelerated and decentralized growth pattern.

13. Is there a way out?

The satellite towns theory of the previous Master Plans for Hyderabad did not work as
the identified ring towns were subsumed by the ever increasing urban spread vortex of
Hyderabad. Today, Vanasthalipuram, Ramachandrapuram, Shamsabad,Ghatkesar and
Medchal have become part of the urban spread of Hyderabad. The concept of
containment of Hyderabads urban spread through a continuous Green Belt or Buffer
had been forsaken and later on given up.

14. Some of the regional planners suggested for focusing on the surrounding district
towns of Hyderabad located within 130 km around Hyderabad, like a spider web viz.,
Zaheerabad, Mahboobnagar, Nalgonda, Warangal, Medak, Nizamabad, Siddipet,
Suryapet were to be promoted creating an umbrella of urban development around
Hyderabad. However, mere designation as a district town to wean away economic
activities and population away from Hyderabad would be wishful thinking and goes
against the laws of physics and development economics.

15. Can Hyderabad Metropolitan region be contained? Can other urban areas and
centers of Telangana have a chance to grow in the given backwash effect of
Hyderabad ? Can the State pursue a successful policy of weaning away future
developments in the hinterland of Telangana- creating a spread effect development
rather than allowing Hyderabad-centric development ?

What sort of policies are required other than giving them a garb of urban development
authorities by the State?

16. The above would be examined in the concluding Part 2 of this Article.
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