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Hyderabad, October 22 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to complete the construction of the new building of the prestigious Osmania Hospital within two years.
The Chief Minister reviewed the progress of the project by holding a meeting with top officials at his residence on Wednesday.
He directed the officials to prepare detailed plans for procurement of suitable advanced medical equipment for the future requirements of the hospital.
The Chief Minister advised engineering officials to design rooms, laboratories and other structures to accommodate the installation of modern medical technology. Along with the hospital construction, he stressed that road work should be done around the hospital to ensure that local residents are not inconvenienced.
To expedite the construction process, he ordered the immediate formation of a coordination committee comprising officials from health, police, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), roads and buildings and electricity departments.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), this committee will regularly inspect the site and meet once in every ten days to identify and immediately resolve the issues, thereby ensuring quick progress of the works.
The Chief Minister also directed the police department to make advance plans for security and traffic management after the hospital becomes operational. The Roads and Buildings Department was instructed to immediately prepare a plan to connect the hospital with the surrounding roads.
Revanth Reddy further directed that for all the hospitals and medical colleges currently under construction in Hyderabad and other districts, an officer should be appointed for each project. These officers will be given full responsibility of monitoring the works 24×7.
The review meeting was attended by Principal Secretaries V. Seshadri and Srinivas Raju, Secretary to CM Manik Raj, Director General of Police Shivdhar Reddy, senior officers Vikas Raj, Christiana Jongthu, Ilambarthi, Musharraf Ali Farooqui, Hyderabad Collector Hari Chandana and others.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) began construction of the new Osmania General Hospital complex at the Goshamahal Police Stadium site earlier this month.
Revanth Reddy had laid the foundation stone of the new complex worth Rs 2,700 crore on January 31 this year.
Spread over 26 acres with a built-up area of 32 lakh square feet, the facility will have a 2,000-bed facility. It will include a hospital block of about 23 lakh square feet, an academic block, separate hostels for men and women, a dharamshala, mortuary, utility facilities and a security building.
The new complex is being built three kilometers away from the existing hospital building on the banks of the Musi River.
The current building of Osmania Hospital has been suffering from problems due to its dilapidated condition for a long time, and there has been a demand for the construction of a new building for many years.
Conceived after the Musi flood of 1908, Osmania Hospital was built by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad State and named after him. Designed in Indo-Saracenic style by British architect Vincent Jerome Ashe and Nawab Khan Bahadur Mirza Akbar Beg, it was completed in 1919.
The existing space of 7.5 lakh square feet was proving inadequate for the growing needs of the people.
The proposal by the previous BRS government to demolish the existing building of Osmania Hospital to construct a new structure was strongly opposed by historians, heritage activists and concerned citizens. This move was challenged in the High Court.
Last year, the Congress government had decided to build a new building on 32 acres of land of Goshamahal Police Stadium.
The Chief Minister said the government will preserve the present building of Osmania Hospital as a heritage structure. He said the building would be preserved as part of the Musi River Development Project to attract tourists.
–IANS
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