Telangana Govt keen to take-up construction of ultramodern health care facility at OGH

The issue of constructing of new building at OGH got caught in legal hurdles, as some individuals approached the High Court in 2015. Since then, the issue has been pending and the project did not take-off

Hyderabad: Despite inordinate delays, largely due to legal hurdles around the heritage building at Osmania General Hospital (OGH), the Telangana government has been quite keen to take-up construction of an ultramodern health care facility on the hospital campus.

Health Minister T Harish Rao in a recent interaction with press persons had said that the Telangana government was looking forward for a constructive resolution of the OGH new hospital issue, so that a new hospital block is developed at the earliest.

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The Minister pointed out that it was Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao who took the initiative to revive the OGH and personally visited the campus in July 2015 and interacted with the doctors. On the same day, the Chief Minister announced Rs 200 crore to construct a twin towers modern hospital campus, Harish Rao said.

However, the issue of constructing of new building at OGH got caught in legal hurdles, as some individuals approached the High Court in August, 2015. Since then, the issue has been pending in the High Court and the project did not take-off.

Multiple committees consisting of experts had deemed the heritage structure unfit for occupation, making the hospital management to evacuate the building and take-up temporary arrangements. A special committee of senior engineers established by Telangana government and another team of experts from IIT-Hyderabad and State Archaeological department conducted independent structural stability study on the OGH heritage building and deemed it unfit for occupation.

The Health Minister hoped that an amicable solution of the issue between individuals who are concerned about the upkeep of the heritage structure and those demanding the expansion of OGH will be arrived at quickly.

Brief history of OGH

The OGH was the first tertiary hospital established during the time of the Nizam, Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan. The OGH Heritage building was designed by British architect Vincent Jerome Esch, who also designed the High Court building and was supervising architect for Victoria Memorial building in Kolkata. The Telangana High Court and OGH structures were designed to add beauty to Musi River in the lines of European structures that were built along the banks of river Thames in London. Apart from architectural beauty, the OGH is also reputed for its landmark achievements in the field of medicine.

‘Take-up construction of  new building for OGH’

Public representatives from different political parties and Ministers in a review meeting with State Health Minister, T Harish Rao on Monday urged the State government to take-up construction of a new building for Osmania General Hospital (OGH), even if it entails demolishing the existing structures within the hospital campus.

In the meeting, the Health Minister said that the unanimous opinion of all the public representatives will be submitted to the High Court in the form of an affidavit. Once the High Court grants permission, the construction of the new building will commence without any delay, he added.

The review meeting was attended by Ministers Mahmood Ali and Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Member of Parliament, Asaduddin Owaisi, Members of Legislative Council (MLCs), Prabhakar Rao, Vani Devi, Rahmat Beg, and Hasan Effendi, MLAs Akbaruddin Owaisi, Danam Nagender, Maganti Gopinath, Jaffar Hussain, and Kausar Moinuddin and senior health officials.