CLOSURE OF OGH MAIN BUILDING SPARKS ANGER

The closure of the 600-bed Osmania General Hospital main building, which had two operation theatres, during the Covid-19 pandemic has angered those who were associated with the institution.

There is deep-seated anger as those associated with the hospital ‘suspect’ ulterior motives in the rainwater flooding of the building. On Wednesday, the new building of the OGH also had rainwater in the wards, from the windows that had been open by the patients and their attendants in the general ward.

Dr P. Naik, incharge OGH superintendent, said, “Nurses have been instructed to check the windows during rainy season and close them. Due to the wind direction, rainwater collected in the wards but it was drained out.”

Will the new building also be sealed, asked angry doctors and heritage lovers. The shortcomings of the old building could also be corrected, they said. But it was deliberately allowed to deteriorate, they said.

Dr M. Iqbal Javeed, executive member of Osmania Medical College Alumni Association, said, “Maintenance has been neglected since 1985. The final nail has been the sealing of the building. The hospital has 25.5 acres and most departments were shifted to buildings in different areas of Hyderabad. Only the general surgery and orthopaedic department were in the building. Yet the heritage building has been constantly targeted. There is no doubt of an ulterior motive and rainwater is only a reason for the hidden agenda.”

Doctors working at the hospital, however, say they fear for their safety. A senior doctor from the OGH explained, “We only know that the repair works were undertaken with cement. In the last one year, there have been several instances of pieces of false ceiling falling in the administration chambers. When we repaired on one side, it started from another section.”