The Telangana Government has filed an affidavit about its decision to demolish the Osmania General Hospital to build a new facility there.
The affidavit dated July 27 stated that the decision was taken after a meeting between public representatives that included Home Minister Mahmood Ali, Animal Husbandry minister Talsani Srinivas, and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, in tandem with government officials from the GHMC, MAUD, and other related departments.
One of the stated objectives for the demolition of the hospital is space constrain in the hospital and the dilapidated state of the building. According to the superintendent of the OGH, Dr. B. Nagendar, the hospital needs 1812 beds to match the current patient load.
“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 feet,” stated the affidavit filed on behalf of the Health, Medical and Family Welfare department of Telangana.
Completed in 1926, the OGH is part of the Musi riverbank transformation executed with the munificence of Nizam Osman Ali Khan, the vision of M. Viswesaraya and executed by British architect Vincent J. Esch. The High Court, the City College and Kacheguda railway station are part of that grand landscape planning.
The OGH is a protected building under the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority’s regulation 13 as a heritage site.
