Hyderabad: Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday said the Nizam-era building of Osmania General Hospital would be restored instead of demolished. In addition, a new hospital building will also be built in the premises.
Decision not to pull down crumbling in early 20’sth-Century Building was taken up on Monday in a meeting which was attended by Owaisi as well as Telangana’s Health and Home Minister and a committee of engineers.
The cost of renovation and construction of the new building, he said in a series of tweets, would be around Rs 560 crore, and the proposal would be submitted to the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and then to the cabinet.
“A report will also be submitted to the High Court as a PIL is pending regarding the heritage structure,” he said.
The renovation and construction of the new building will cost about ₹ 560 crore, the proposal will be submitted. @TelanganaCMO And then in the cabinet. A report will also be submitted to the High Court pending a PIL regarding the heritage structure 3/3
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) 24 May 2022
The announcement has been welcomed by heritage enthusiasts who have been fighting for the preservation of the structure.
Dr Mohammad Iqbal Javed, a member of the Indian Medical Association and Osmania College alum, whose father was a surgeon at Osmania Hospital in the 1960s, lauded the “historic decision” to restore the building and said “we thank the CM a lot”.
The historic hospital, which largely caters to patients from the economically weaker sections, was stuck in a argument Preserving heritage versus prioritizing health. The dilapidated building had several problems including leaking roofs and loose plaster falling from the walls and ceilings.
In 2015, CM Rao proposed building demolition, promised a new one, but immediately received criticism from legacy activists. In 2021, when Owaisi suggested that a new hospital should be built, he too was criticized for ignoring the historical significance of the building.
read also, Osmania Hospital, the Nizam-era Hyderabad hospital caught in the legacy versus health debate
Historic building, but also a health hazard
The government-run Osmania General Hospital has a 1,168-bed facility, spread over about two acres on a 26.5-acre campus, which also includes a nursing and a dental college.
The current building was constructed between 1911 and 1925 after the disastrous flood of 1908 In the then princely state of Hyderabad, which was then under the rule of its last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan. Before this building was built, Afzal Ganj, built in 1866, stood on a site overlooking the Musi River in the old part of the city.
The government and heritage activists agreed that the crumbling structure of the hospital could not remain as it was.
In July 2020, a few hours of heavy rain submerged the heritage wing of the building, prompting the state health department to order its closure. Reports of falling plaster and stray animals roaming the wards also contributed to the demands for an overhaul.
Owaisi has been demanding for a long time that a hospital worth one thousand crore rupees should be built at this place. Although he did not explicitly call for the demolition of the old structure, he did not call for its restoration.
Telangana High Court is hearing a clutch Petitions On the demolition of the Heritage Osmania Hospital building.
(Edited by Jinnia Ray Chowdhury)
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