Osmania General Hospital: No committee was set up to save heritage

Hyderabad: Protesters who are against the demolition of the Osmania General Hospital point that the heritage conservation committee has not been formed since two years now.

Heritage activist Sajjad Shahid said, “The government cannot go ahead and demolish the notified heritage structure without approval from the heritage conservation committee. What can one do when the government itself wants to violate rules?”

“It is sad that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who promised to be a protector of Telangana’s culture did not find even five minutes to go through the file on formation of the heritage conservation committee submitted to him,” Mr Sajjad said.

G.S.V. Suryanarayana Murthy, a conservation architect, said, “Civil engineers have proposed the demolition of the OGH building saying it is unsafe. As per their methodology, even the Charminar can be suggested for demolition.”

City conservation architects say that civil engineers do not have any knowledge about conservation of heritage structures as this is not covered in their curriculum.