Hyderabad: Over the last few years, there have been several tense moments pertaining to the survival of the heritage building of Osmania General Hospital (OGH). The old building, which is currently in disuse due to structural issues, has been the bone of contention between different parties, a few of which want to dismantle the culturally important site to construct a new hospital over it.
And with Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy on August 2 announcing that the state government will construct a new site for OGH at Goshamahal, and also restore the old heritage structure, activists are now hopeful that the government will keep up its word. In fact, the Congress in its manifesto during last year’s Assembly polls also promised to restore the heritage building of OGH. But so far work has not begun in any way to suggest the same.
The Osmania General Hospital issue has seen quite a bit of vicissitude in the recent past, especially after 2020 when it was shut down after rainwater seeped into the ground floor. Since then, a court case calling for its demolition by a group of doctors has only aggravated matters. Moreover, in the recent few years, the flip-flop on the matter by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi has also been a matter of concern for activists.
Owaisi in 2021 had indirectly gunned to take down the heritage structure of the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) building by saying that he has no love for it. He had then said that he wanted the then Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government to construct a new hospital and added it was up to the government also to keep it or demolish it. He eventually came around and said that it would be saved, which some believe was a result of public criticism of his earlier calls to demolish it.
Interestingly, when contacted, a senior Congress leader from Hyderabad said that though the restoration of OGH was part of the party’s election manifesto, the matter will depend on the political situation as well. “Since it falls in the Old City and the party is on good terms with the AIMIM, we have to see how they will respond,” he told Siasat.com, not wanting to be named.
A year later, Owaisi once again during the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Sardar Mahal building at Charminar, said that he does not have any love for the old Osmania General Hospital building. “If anyone conservationist is feeling bad it can’t be helped,” he then said. His statements, which have a heavy bearing on the social fabric of Hyderabad’s Old City, were met with sharp criticism from activists who questioned his apathy for the Old City’s heritage.
Since then, activists and other concerned citizens have been miffed with the state also for not taking up OGH’s restoration. Renowned architect, Srinivas Murthy from Hyderabad pointed out that Osmania Hospital’s heritage building stands on just three out of the total 26 acres of the entire premises. “I think they will restore it this time. The Congress also put it in their manifesto so they are bound to do it,” he added.
Another expert, who did not want to be quoted, said that the issue is also political for optics between the Congress government and the AIMIM. “I am 100% sure they won’t restore it for the love of heritage. Every party when it comes to power takes up new projects for money. But my worry is if they let this structure die its death by constructing a new one and shifting the hospital from there,” he added.
Srinivas Murthy, who designed the Secunderabad and Somajiguda Yashoda Hospital campuses, said that a super-speciality hospital can easily be built within five acres of land. Murthy has also designed the master plan for Yashoda Hospital’s Gachibowli campus, which has been built on five acres of land. The architect had even presented an alternative plan to save Osmania Hospital during a talk at Lamakaan in 2023.
Indian National Trust for Architecture and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) convenor Anuradha Reddy also said that chief minister Revanth Reddy’s comments on Osmania Hospital were a positive one. However, other activists who did not want to be quoted, said that they were sceptical and would wait and watch until the war actually began.
History of Osmania General Hospital
Osmania Hospital was completed in 1925 after Hyderabad was affected by the bubonic plague around 1911. The city administration then took care of the issue, following which the then Nizam Osman Ali Khan (1911-48) set up the City Improvement Board (CIB) in 1912 to improve Hyderabad’s infrastructure. It was designed by architect Vincent Esch, who also designed the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.
The original or heritage building of Osmania Hospital (along with others like the High Court and City College) is a fine example of the Osmania style or Indo-Saracenic genre of architecture and is an integral part of Hyderabad’s 20th-century riverscape and skyline.
The CIB during the reign of Osman Ali Khan had transformed the medieval city into a modern metropolis, complete with infrastructure like the High Court, railway stations, etc.
Lack of restoration over the years
In a 2013 report, a new building block in Osmania Hospital was suggested to be built for Rs. 100 crore and restoration of the old structure was suggested for Rs 19 crore then. The new building was to have many other facilities, which were being run from other buildings. However, after Telangana was formed in 2014, CM KCR visited Osmania Hospital in 2015, which was followed by an announcement of OGH’s demolition.
The announcement of demolition led to a public outcry, following which an expert team from the Indian National Trust for Art, Culture, and Heritage (INTACH) submitted a structural, stability and safety study of Osmania Hospital.
It summarized that the conservation of the in-patient block or the old heritage building should be restored based on heritage conservation principles. In 2019, state officials along with architects from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) also inspected Osmania Hospital to look at restoration. But that also fell through.
The Osmania Hospital’s heritage building has been in disuse since mid-2020 after rainwater flooded the building. While doctors blamed poor maintenance, it was eventually found out that a blocked drain inside the site had led to the flooding. The government shut the structure and it has since then been lying closed.
