Hyderabad heritage activists say decision to raze Osmania General Hospital buildings unconstitutional, remind Govt of Irrum Manzil judgment

The Telangana High Court is hearing a clutch of public interest litigations on the matter including one demanding a new facility while protecting the heritage block built in 1926.

In their appeal to Alok Aradhe, Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court, social activist Lubna Sarwath and others said the decision of the state government to demolish a notified heritage building was unconstitutional and hurt the city’s identity.

In their letter, they wrote about the High Court’s judgment of September 16, 2019, in a batch of Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions against the June 2019 decision of the state government to demolish Irrum Manzil — another notified heritage building — where the High Court set had aside the state’s decision.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao wanted to demolish an old palace on a hillock in the middle of the city to construct a new building for the Assembly. The Cabinet had passed a resolution in June 2019 but within three months, the High Court had stayed it after eight PILs were filed challenging the government’s decision at the time.

Sarwath said the judgment highlighted several provisions of law and procedures established to term it “legally unsustainable”. She also quoted the order which said, “The government has equally ignored the relevant factor that the identity of an individual is moulded by his/her culture, history and heritage. Therefore, preservation of heritage has been incorporated to be part of “life” enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”

The order had also said, “Therefore, it is an imperative duty of the State to preserve the heritage buildings which contribute to the sense of culture and sense of identity of the city.”

“The State cannot afford the luxury of forgetting that the destruction of heritage buildings will rob its people of the essence of their identity, and will deprive the city of its sense of uniqueness. While it is important to plan for the future, it is equally important to protect, to preserve and to promote the past.”

In a tweet, historian William Dalrymple called the state government’s decision “barbarous philistinism” and pointed out that the decision was taken in a meeting attended by ministers Md Mahmood Ali and Talsani Srinivas Yadav, and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and others.

Barbarous philistinism

Hyderabad: Govt decides to demolish Osmania Hospital building

Decision was taken in a meeting attended by ministers Mahmood Ali and Talsani Srinivas, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and othershttps://t.co/Uq3fdgroTr

— William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) July 30, 2023

To a user who said one should not see everything from a historical perspective and that it was a good decision since the building was unsafe, especially for patients, Dalrymple said, “There is, in every other part of the world, a process called Conservation.”

Osmania General Hospital, a photographic thread.
View of the hospital from the Afzal Gunj bridge. pic.twitter.com/Al4TCZHjlt

— The Deccan Archive (@DeccanArchive) June 22, 2021

Dalrymple’s tweet garnered widespread support and among those was Sanjaya Baru, who served as the media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh. Baru tweeted, “Shocking decision @KTRBRS @TelanganaCMO From grand old trees to grand old buildings TS government destroying heritage. Just not done!.”

In the affidavit dated July 27, Health Secretary S A M Rizvi had informed the court OGH requires 1,812 beds to handle the patient load. Rizvi said there is a need for a 21.75 lakh sq foot of built-up area as per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS), which stipulate 100 to 110 sq m per bed for teaching hospitals.

In addition to this, the senior official also pointed out the need for land to build residential quarters for postgraduate students, multilevel parking, as well as for other services such as oxygen tank, electric substation, mortuary, mechanised laundry etc. He also said since the old building is located in the middle of the campus, its redevelopment is impossible unless the old building is demolished.

Hi @KTRBRS, there’s so much effort and pride attached to restoring our heritage stepwells. Wonder why the same efforts are not being made to preserve an iconic structure like the Osmania General Hospital?

I am sure you are sad to see this structure go too. Please do something.

— Kartik Dayanand (@KartikDayanand) July 29, 2023

A consensus was reached that keeping the old building which was not fit for a hospital at the cost of poor hospital services was inappropriate in the meeting of officials and experts attended by ministers Ali and Yadav and Hyderabad MP Owaisi, Rizvi said.

Established in 1866 as Afzalgunj Hospital, OGH was moved to its current premises on a 24-acre land in 1926. After flood water and sewage entered the hospital during heavy rain in 2020, the heritage block that accommodated 400 beds was vacated bringing down the hospital’s bed capacity to 1,100.

Doctors at the hospital have also been demanding the government must take a decision and expedite the process of building a new hospital citing overcrowding, hygiene and sanitation, and infrastructural constraints which they say have been affecting patient care.