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Political blame game over flooding of Osmania General Hospital begins
Health minister Etala Rajender blamed the opposition parties for the sorry state of affairs in Osmania Hospital. He reminded that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had proposed to construct a state-of-the-art multi-storeyed hospital complex in place of the existing old structure.
The inundation of the 110-year old Osmania General Hospital on the banks of Musi river in Hyderabad two days ago causing innumerable hardships for patients led to a political slugfest between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the opposition parties on Friday.
Even as hospital authorities shifted several patients to the first floor and the hospital sanitation staff and the GHMC personnel cleaned the wards and sprayed disinfectants, political leaders and their followers swarmed the hospital to take stock of the situation on Thursday and Friday.
Pradesh Congress Committee president N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Bandi Sanjay and TRS minister T Srinivasa Yadav were among those who visited the hospital and spoke to the patients about the difficulties they faced due to heavy rains.
Health minister Etala Rajender blamed the opposition parties for the sorry state of affairs in Osmania Hospital. He reminded that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had proposed to construct a state-of-the-art multi-storeyed hospital complex in place of the existing old structure.
“He had personally visited the hospital and observed that the century-old structure was in a dilapidated state, posing danger to the patients. But the same opposition parties, who are now raising a hue and cry over rainwater entering the hospital premises, had stalled the proposal,” Rajender said.
The minister said the demolition of the old building was stonewalled by environmentalists and heritage conservationists as a result of which the proposal was dropped. “We had no option but to continue the hospital in the same building after undertaking some repairs,” he said.
Rajender explained that the rainwater had entered into OGH premises due to a block in the storm water drain connecting Begum Bazar with Musi passing beneath the hospital building. “We have cleared the block and are now finding a permanent solution to see that the problem does not recur,” he said.
PCC president N Uttam Kumar Reddy held the chief minister responsible for the pathetic conditions at the OGH. “The submergence of wards, especially during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, reflects the attitude of the KCR government towards public health,” he said.
He said the estimates and blue print for construction of a new building in the same OGH complex at a cost of Rs 500 crore have been pending for approval since 2017. “The chief minister should drop the plan for demolition of the state secretariat complex and start constructing a new building for the OGH while protecting the heritage structure,” he said.
BJP’s official spokesman K Krishna Sagar Rao said the inundation of OHG with rain and sewerage water reflected the mis-governance and criminal negligence of the TRS government.
“It was true that the opposition parties and many civil society organizations obstructed the demolition of the 110-year old heritage building, but the BJP had neither objected nor would ever object, if the state government were to build a new building elsewhere for relocation of Osmania General Hospital,” he said.
