Putting aside their differences, many political groups gathered in Hyderabad’s old city area on Wednesday to demand better facilities in the area and specifically asked the state government to upgrade and renovate the Osmania General Hospital (OGH), which is in a dilapidated condition.
The protestors, under the banner of the Bahujan Left Front (BLF) marched from Charminar to OGH, raising slogans against the state government and demanding that funds be released to the hospital.
Demanding the allocation of Rs 1,000 crore for OGH, political leaders from Left parties and groups like the Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) also demanded the allocation of Rs 10,000 crore for the development of Hyderabad's old city area and immediate construction of a bus station at Charminar.
The building in question is close to a century old, and is considered to be one of the oldest hospitals in India.
The hospital was conceived after the Musi flood of 1908 with architect Vincent Jerome Esch drawing up the blueprints. It was built at a cost of Rs 20 lakh at the time, under the rule of the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Osman Ali Khan.
The palatial structure was built in the second decade of the 20th century and thrown open to the public in 1921.
Though the in-patient (IP) block sees a large influx of patients everyday, it is in dire need of repair and restoration, as plaster and paint is falling off both outside and inside the building.
The BLF also demanded justice for the hawkers and vendors who were displaced due to the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project (CPP).
The CPP aims to pedestrianise a radius of 220 metres around Charminar, by diverting vehicular traffic through the Inner Ring Road (IRR) and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). With this, it aims to beautify the area around Charminar, on par with heritage sites across the world.
As a result, the fruit vendors who have surrounded the monument for decades were the first ones to be asked to leave on February 24.