For new Osmania General Hospital, Telangana government to raze all buildings on premises, including heritage block

In the affidavit dated July 27, health secretary S A M Rizvi said that OGH requires 1,812 beds to handle the patient load. As per the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) which stipulate 100 to 110 sq.m per bed for teaching hospitals, there is a need for 21.75 lakh sq. foot built up area. In addition to this, a 4.84 lakh sq. foot area is required for residential quarters for postgraduate students. Another 5.85 lakh sq. foot area is required for multilevel parking and 2.66 lakh sq. foot area is required for other services such as oxygen tank, electric substation, mortuary, mechanised laundry etc.

He said that a total of 35.76 lakh sq. foot area requires 9.30 acres and since the footprint has to be less than 40 per cent of the total area as per National Building Code, 2016, the total land required is 22.2 acres. After considering the religious structures, graveyard, and police station located on the campus, the net land available is 22.2 acres and since the old building is located in the middle of the campus, its redevelopment is impossible unless the old building is demolished, Rizvi informed the court. He added that a consensus was arrived that keeping the old building which was not fit for a hospital at the cost of poor hospital services was inappropriate.

The OGH was established in 1866 as Afzalgunj Hospital and moved to its current premises on a 24-acre land in 1926. The heritage block that accommodated 400 beds was vacated when flood water and sewage entered the hospital during heavy rain in 2020, bringing down the total bed capacity to 1100.

Citing overcrowding, hygiene and sanitation, and infrastructural constraints affecting patient care, doctors at the hospital have been demanding the government to take a decision and expedite the process of building a new hospital. The government had earlier decided to construct a modern twin-tower hospital here but hit a roadblock after multiple PILs were filed between 2015 and 2020 before the court. In March 2022, it had constituted a committee of experts to study the structural stability of OGH and the Court asked the government to include two independent members and ordered no demolition should take place.

After the committee submitted its findings that the building was not safe and cannot be used for hospital purposes at all, the Court in December 2022 asked the government to come up with a comprehensive proposal after consulting with experts as well as public representatives. The committee had said that the heritage block could be repaired and restored to make it available for non-hospital purposes.

Meanwhile, the Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), a group of doctors who have been pressing for a modern hospital to be built after razing all buildings including the heritage block, said that the government’s much-awaited position was half-baked and half-hearted.

“The government is silent as to the due and mandatory procedure to be followed regarding the heritage block. It has to take a policy decision and refer the matter to the heritage committee under HMDA Act to take a legally enforceable decision to demolish OGH or else it will get caught in a legal tangle,” the HRDA said in a statement. It said the government could also allocate alternate land for the construction of a new building in such a scenario and share the budget sanction, blueprint of new building, and a time frame for completion.