Hyderabad: The Telangana government is formulating an alternative plan for the construction of Osmania General Hospital, as authorities identify a new location for the hospital in case of an adverse court ruling.
The construction of Osmania General Hospital has been contentious, with doctors facing difficulties due to the dilapidated state of the current heritage building.
Osmania General Hospital’s bed capacity is currently 1,100, which has decreased due to the evacuation of the old building. The government aims to expand the capacity to over 1,800 beds to better handle the patient load. Medical staff have expressed concerns over the dangerous condition of the building during their working hours.
In September 2023, the state government filed an affidavit with the court supporting the demolition of the building. The affidavit stated that the old building was unfit for patient care and proposed demolishing it along with other satellite buildings to develop a new 35.76 lakh square feet hospital.
The current Congress government has also endorsed the previous BRS government’s decision to construct a new hospital building. However, several heritage conservationists have filed petitions opposing the demolition, advocating for the preservation of the city’s historic character and suggesting the renovation of the existing structure instead.
Earlier, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy indicated that the government would comply with the High Court’s decision regarding the heritage building and would wait for the court’s verdict before proceeding.
