HC: PILs seek construction of new building for OGH, halt demolition of heritage

Hyderabad: On Tuesday, the Telangana High Court began hearing the case listed by a batch of PILs requesting the court to direct the State Government to construct a new building to house the Osmania General Hospital (OGH). The petitioners are against the State Government’s decision to demolish the heritage building to build a new one.

Sudarshan Reddy, advocate general of Telangana State briefed the Division Bench, on behalf of the state government, on the immediate need to improve healthcare at the OGH by upgrading it to a 1,800-bedded hospital from managing 1,000 beds.

He informed the court that the hospital has a teaching college and the State has already sanctioned requisite funds for the construction of the new building to house the hospital.

Two expert committees: IIT Hyderabad and Archeological Survey of India gave reports stating that the present building in which the Osmania General Hospital is housed is not fit to be continued given its dilapidated condition and both committees have recommended that a new building should be constructed.

However, one counsel, through a batch of PILs, informed the Division Bench that the State government constituted both expert committees, and both reports favoured the State government’s decision.

Committees did not suggest demolition of old building

At the same time, both committees did not recommend the demolition of the old building, rather they only recommended the construction of a new building.

“We are not against the construction of a new building to house the Osmania General Hospital, but a part of the OGH, which has a heritage tag, has to be protected,” contended the counsel for the petitioner.

The Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti, was adjudicating the batch of PILs filed by Osmania Medical College alumni, advocates, NGOs and others seeking directions to the State government to construct a new multi-storied building for housing Osmania General Hospital with all super speciality facilities in the place of the existing old hospital at Afzal Gunj, Hyderabad.

The hearing was adjourned to February 12 for a final hearing.

Controversial decision

In July 2023, the Telangana government decided to demolish the existing building of Osmania General Hospital to make way for a new and modern hospital structure. The State government submitted an affidavit to the Telangana High Court on July 27, officially announcing their plans for the demolition.

The government cited safety concerns as the main reason behind this crucial decision. According to them, the current OGH building is deemed unfit for providing proper patient care, necessitating its removal along with other satellite structures. The new OGH building will be constructed in an extensive area covering 35.76 lakh square feet.

Following the demolition call, several questions were raised during a recent deliberation on the future of the OGH heritage structure and whether it should be conserved or demolished. During the discussion, heritage enthusiasts, conservation architects, and doctors leaned towards conserving the heritage structure while having a new hospital built in the vicinity or within the OGH premises.

Private-Public preservation

Heritage enthusiast and a 10th-generation Hyderabadi, Nadir Yar Khan proposed that a public-private partnership (PPP) model can come to the rescue of the century-old building. “Hyderabad Metro, the Quli Qutub Shahi Tombs, and Bansilalpet Stepwell are successful examples of PPP. It (OGH) can be restored like the Chowmahalla Palace and Falaknuma Palace,” he said.

Even though the doctors at OGH have always demanded a new OGH building for the smooth functioning of patient care, they did not seem too enthusiastic about demolishing a heritage structure. In fact, as per sources, the demolition decision has given rise to heated arguments among doctors on a WhatsApp group.

The main reasons cited for the decision to demolish include the dilapidated state of OGH and the severe space constraints hampering healthcare and medical treatments, giving rise to an urgent need to set up a full-fledged new hospital. As per the affidavit filed in court, “Since the old building is situated in the middle of the land parcel, development of an alternative hospital is indeed impossible unless the old building is removed.”