Hyderabad: A horrified Telangana State Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, on his first visit to the 105-year-old Osmania General Hospital (OGH) on Thursday, instructed officials to evacuate the building within a week and operate the hospital from elsewhere.
“How do you work here,” was the first question he asked after seeing the abysmal state in the hospital. In fact, the stink in the corridors from choked drains was so bad that everyone had their noses covered.
The Chief Minister Mr Rao also asked the Telangana Government Doctors Association, health minister Laxma Reddy and government officers to look for a new building in an easily accessible place to re-locate the hospital.
The CM inspected the operation theatre, acute medical care unit and the outer premises of the hospital along with senior doctors and staff.
According to government officials there is a proposal to make a “replica of the old building” in the front premises and build two towers behind.
However, the big question is where to shift the patients, equipment and also the administration of the hospital?
TGDA’s Dr P. Srinivas said, “The doctors, government officers and the health minister have to find out a suitable location in the city. We proposed the new hospital building of Niloufer Hospital, the Area Hospital at Vanashtalipuram, King Koti ENT Government Hospital and also Malakpet Hospital, where some departments can be shifted.”
There are 1,200 in-patients in the old building on any given day. The medicinal, surgical and administrative departments also function in this building. At the same time there are about 300 students who attend lectures here.
TDGA’s Dr Nagendra, said, “We have to keep a lot of logistics in mind while finalizing the new hospital. But it has now become dangerous to work here as the roof is collapsing, pipes are constantly leaking and drains just can’t bear the load. We can’t do any further repairs as the building can’t take the increasing load of the hospital.”
Questions which remain unanswered: Government officers and senior doctors had the following queries after the CM’s visit
When and by what time frame will the building be delisted from the list of heritage structures?
Will the complete existing structure be demolished?
Will a replica be an answer to the original structure?
It is being said that two new buildings of 14 floors each will be ready in one and half year, which is a questionable time frame.
Evaluation of topography and geological studies will have to be carried out to understand whether such huge structures can be contained on the land; till that is done, chalking out clear-cut plans will be difficult.
