Hyderabad: Heritage activists cry foul as govt closes Osmania General Hospital for demolition

Hyderabad: With indications that the government is likely to demolish the century-old Osmania General Hospital building, heritage activists are weighing legal options to stall the move.

In 2015, when the government wanted to demolish the building and construct ultramodern twin towers as OGH was posing threat to the patients, there was a strong protest from various organisations, including the AIMIM.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi had said, "We are against the demolition of the building as it is a heritage building, not only for Hyderabad but also for the entire country. We are restoring the Quli Qutub Shahi tombs which are more than four centuries old. The OGH which is not even a century old can be similarly restored," he had said.

It remains to be seen what stand the MIM would take now in the wake of water entering the wards adding to the problems of the patients and incidents of plaster falling from the roof of the ceiling at many places and damages to the building at many places.

Doctors and staff have been demanding that a new building be constructed. Following this, the Health department seized the building and ordered immediate shifting of the patients to Quli Qutub Shah Hospital.

The activists dismiss the issue as a drainage problem and allege that the government has a hidden agenda.

In view of the safety of the patients and staff working there, the administration had shifted all the patients to QQS hospital and the faculty rooms are to be vacated.

But the activists claim that the hospital requires only surgical and medical departments and casualty for medico-legal cases. The rest of the departments are already distributed all over the city.

Petlaburj Maternity Hospital is a branch or periphery hospital of the OGH," argues Dr Iqbal Javeed of OMCAA (Osmania Medical College Alumni Association), who has been in the forefront of protecting the historic structure with all its facilities.

Dr Javeed said that doctors had never opposed the government's idea of coming up with new buildings. It can demolish all the structures on 25.5-acre campus except the heritage building.