Citizens of Hyderabad, you have woken up this Tuesday to not only a new morning but to a new reality. You are now the residents of the second largest city in the country, next only to the national capital, New Delhi.

This has happened with the state government merging - through Government Order 261 issued on Monday - 12 surrounding municipalities with the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, thereby creating Greater Hyderabad.

The new urban agglomeration, of which you are proud citizens, sprawls across 625 square km with a population of 67 lakh. Till Monday, Hyderabad had a population of 45 lakh living in an area of 172 sq km. The erstwhile city of the Nizams has now transformed into an area greater than Mumbai, Chennai and of course Bengalooru. Mumbai, however, will have a larger population than Hyderabad.

The 12 municipalities -L B Nagar, Gaddiannaram, Uppal Kalan, Malkajgiri, Kapra, Alwal, Quthbullapur, Kukatpally, Serilingampalli, Rajendranagar, Ramachandrapuram and Patancheru - now stand abolished and merged into Greater Hyderabad which will have a single corporation. All these municipalities are in Rangareddy district.