Debate: Does Osmania General Hospital needs to be demolished?

Lamakaan and Hyderabad Urban Lab are hosting a debate on Sunday August 6th, 5pm at Lamakaan with ten speakers, five to a side, each getting 10 minutes to present their case. There will be enough time at the end for the audience to jump in. Write to lamakaan@gmail.com if you wish to speak.

The Osmania General Hospital is a hundred year old landmark on the northern banks of the river Musi in Hyderabad. Constructed in 1919, it has served hundreds of thousands of patients over the years. Tens of thousands of medical professionals have trained here. Unsurprisingly, any talk of altering this iconic building triggers strong emotional reactions. Yet, in the last 100 years, hospital management techniques have changed. Diagnostic and treatment technologies have changed. Administrative apathy, lack of adequate funding, and callousness of successive governments have negatively affected the building and its infrastructure. The building as it stands is not serving the needs of the professionals and the patients. The question is, should the building be demolished and a new state of the art hospital building be constructed ? Or, can the building be upgraded and retrofitted to continue to serve as a hospital ? Or can the building be turned into a model of adaptive reuse (e.g. a museum of modern medicine) – while redeveloping the remaining estate into a new hospital