Hyderabad: Telangana government has finally decided to demolish the building of Osmania General Hospital (OGH). In an affidavit submitted by the state government to the Telangana High Court, it announced the decision to raze the structure to construct the new hospital building.
In the affidavit submitted on July 27, the state government declared that the current building is unfit for a hospital and disclosed a plan to demolish it along with other satellite structures for the construction of the new OGH building in an area of 35.76 lakh square feet.
The government further mentioned that the decision was taken in a meeting attended by ministers Mahmood Ali and Talsani Srinivas, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and officials from the health department, GHMC, MA&UD, R&B, and OGH representatives.
Current OGH building is unsafe, says Govt
Citing the reason behind the decision, the government mentioned that the current Osmania General Hospital building is unsafe.
“The old building is unfit for any kind of patient care, and the said building is to be removed along with the other satellite buildings for the development of an alternative hospital of 35.76 lakh square feet,” stated the affidavit filed on behalf of the Health, Medical, and Family Welfare department of Telangana.
Currently, the OGH has a bed strength of 1100 as it decreased after the old OGH building was vacated due to its dilapidated condition.
As per the superintendent of OGH, Dr. B. Nagendar, the hospital needs 1812 beds to tackle the current patient load.
Osmania Hospital building controversy
The controversy around the Osmania General Hospital structure, which was constructed in 1919 by the last Nizam of Hyderabad, Osman Ali Khan, began on July 23, 2015, when Telangana CM KCR visited the hospital and expressed concern over the safety of patients due to the dilapidated structure. Later, he announced a plan to demolish the building and construct a modern hospital with a grant of Rs 200 crore.
Following the decision, many petitions and PILs were filed both in favor and against it.
Later, Deccan Archaeological and Cultural Research Institute approached HC seeking the renovation of the existing structure and new buildings as specified in GO 313 that was issued on November 3, 2010.
On Friday, the government put an end to the confusion prevailing over the future of OGH and announced its decision to demolish it to construct a new building.
