DOES ANY HOSP RUN IN HERITAGE BUILDING, ASKS HC

Does any hospital function from a heritage building in any part of the world, the Telangana High Court asked the petitioners who want the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) to continue functioning from the heritage structure.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy was on Monday hearing a batch of four Public Interest Litigations (PILs) related to the heritage OGH structure.

The court observed that there are situations where hospitals are run from churches and temples, but it is rather rare that a hospital is located in a heritage building.

Justice Vijaysen Reddy asked senior advocate V. Satyam Reddy whether any hospital works out of a heritage structure anywhere in the world.

Satyam Reddy stated that the building was constructed for the hospital and was later placed on the heritage list. Since it is a heritage structure, it cannot be demolished and has to be protected.

The hospital premises has 16 acres of open land which can used for construction of a new building to house the OGH, senior counsel said.

Rachna, counsel, said that since the OGH building is notified as a heritage structure, it cannot be demolished going by the order passed by the High Court on the Erramanzil Palace.

The judges while going through the site map of the hospital premises observed that the structures and other information were not legible.

The High Court bench adjourned the hearing to September 8 and directed the petitioners and Advocate General (AG) B.S. Prasad to furnish a legible coloured site map.