The fiat by Director of Medical Education ordering abandoning of the Osmania General Hospital on Wednesday triggered misgivings about the state of the heritage structure. Already, there has been a growing demand, especially among the doctors and staff working at the hospital, for dismantling the building and developing another medical facility.
“This is a medical facility where hygiene is of prime importance. We cannot have a hospital where there is a threat of drainage water flowing in. For nearly 45 years, we have been working under the threat of falling roof coupled with poor sanitary conditions” says Dr. K. Ram Singh of Osmania General Hospital.
Heritage activists are upset over the demand for demolition of Hyderabad’s landmark hospital. “Five years ago, there was a similar demand. We had carried out an inspection and found that the building was structurally stable. We are willing to do another study to find the structural stability of the building,” says Anuradha Reddy of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. “The building enjoys the same protection under the orders of the High Court as Irrum Manzil,” she says.
The High Court had ruled that “the identity and character of a city is defined by its heritage and architecture ”. 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 structurally similar to the High Court building. The ingress of drainage water will not damage the structure except for superficial damage on tiles and plastering. The sub-structure would not be affected. The building has been neglected for too long but it is not delicate or unstable,” says architect and structural designer S.P. Anchuri who earlier carried out an inspection of the building.