Officials to decide fate of OGH heritage block

The Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department has sent a proposal to the Government of Telangana for permission to demolish the Osmania General Hospital (in-patient block) under the HMDA Heritage Regulations, 1981.

The in-patient block is the heritage building built during the reign of Nizam Osman Ali Khan with the plan drawn up by Vincent Esch.

Following this development, the State government has constituted a committee of government officials to study the structural stability of the building. The committee has been asked to file a report within 15 days. The committee has Engineer-in-Chiefs of R&B Department, MA&UD, Panchayat Raj, with the Chief City Planner of GHMC as the convenor.

“We cannot accept a stability report by subordinate officials. If it is by an independent expert then the report will carry some weightage. The report should be without bias,” said Dr. Iqbal Jaweed, who earlier worked in the building.

In 2014, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University had submitted a report that the building might collapse within five years and had to be demolished. But, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage certified the building as structurally stable needing minor repairs.