Hyderabad: Foundation stone for new building of Hyderabad’s historic Osmania General Hospital will be laid by January-end.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy today ordered the officials to make all arrangements to lay foundation stone for the building with state-of-the-art facilities.
At a review meeting with officials, he enquired the officials about the availability of land at Goshamahal and instructed them to transfer the land which is under the jurisdiction of Police department to Medical and Health department at the earliest. The officials of the health and police departments have been asked to complete the official process of the transfer of land and other related works immediately.
The authorities briefed the Chief Minister about the designs of the new hospital building and showed the sample maps. He suggested several changes and incorporations in the hospital designs prepared by the officials.
The CM wanted the hospital to be constructed with all kinds of modern facilities. The officials were instructed to finalise the hospital designs, keeping in mind the future needs mainly the development of road network, parking facility, mortuary and other infrastructure in the hospital premises.
The Chief Minister emphasised that designs should be prepared with a forward planning so that no problems arise when road expansion and construction of flyovers are undertaken in the future. Along with state-of-the-art facilities, the CM said that parks and green cover should also be developed for visitors and patients to relax in the hospital premises.
Revanth Reddy asked officials to prepare plans to construct the hospital with advanced facilities at par with corporate hospitals.
The new building will be built on 32 acres land of the Police Stadium and Sports Complex at Goshamahal.
The government has already decided to conserve the present building of Osmania Hospital at Afzal Gunj near Musi River as a heritage structure. The Chief Minister plans to preserve and restore the historic building as part of the proposed Musi Riverfront development project to attract tourists.
The old building of Osmania Hospital is in a dilapidated condition and there have been demands from people and also the hospital staff for several years to construct a new building.
A proposal by the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to demolish the present building of Osmania Hospital to build new structure was strongly opposed by historians, heritage activists and concerned citizens, who had approached the High Court.
Conceived after the Musi floods of 1908, the Osmania Hospital was built by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad State and named after him.
Designed by British architect Vincent Jerome Esch and Nawab Khan Bahadur Mirza Akbar Baig in the Indo-Sarcenic style, it was completed in 1919. Heritage experts say the domes of Osmania Hospital added to Hyderabad’s charms.
Spread over 26.5 acres, the hospital has 11 major blocks. The in-patient block alone was over an area of 2.37 acres with a total bed capacity of 1,168 beds, including 363 in super-speciality wards.
