Experts, Heritage Lovers Decry Plan to Demolish Osmania Hospital

HYDERABAD: The debate over the demolition or preservation of the Osmania General Hospital was effectively put to an end in the public domain as activists, architects and conservationists called for preserving the historical landmark, which provokes nostalgia and emotion. Sharing pictures of the first batch of Osmania Medical College on X, city-based historian, architect and heritage expert Asif Ali Khan said, “This is the picture of Osmania Medical College student’s union 1952-53. Little did they know exactly 70 years later, the same prestigious edifice which trained them would be under threat of demolition.” “The doctors’ consultation room of Osmania General Hospital was no less than the décor of a five-star hotel but is now in shambles due to sheer negligence of administration. The heritage building stands at high risk of proposed demolition,” wrote Asif Ali Khan, along with a picture of the OGH dating back to 1926, when the Afzalgunj Hospital shifted to its current location. In a post on X, Scottish historian and art historian William Dalrymple said, “There is, in every other part of the world, a process called conservation,” with him calling the state government’s decision “barbarous philistinism.” Darylmple’s post gathered huge support.