The multi-storied building the government had proposed to construct to accommodate Osmania General Hospital would require wider space, Advocate General B.S. Prasad said on Tuesday.
Presenting arguments in a batch of four PIL pleas on OGH, he said the government wanted to build a new and large structure with all facilities for the hospital. This would require a lot of space. It would not be possible to construct the new building in the open space available on OGH premises.
He did not agree with the contentions of some petitioners that a new building should be erected in the open space without disturbing the old one. The AG said there was no point in building a new structure closer to the dilapidated old structure from where OGH is being operated presently.
Counsel of one of the petitioners said the government should construct new complex for the hospital at the earliest as COVID-19 cases were going up by the day. The bench, however, remarked that the government could not raise a new building in 24 hours.
“Rome was not built in a single day. Construction of new building for the hospital might take five years,” the bench said. The bench said it took 22 years to build Taj Mahal. The bench remarked that the twin towers being built to accommodate police command and control centre had been consuming time and it was still under construction.
The bench directed the AG to serve copies of the coloured site plan of OGH (presented to the court) which can help identify open lands and buildings easily to all the petitioners. It would require further analysis to decide crucial points like whether to build a structure by demolishing the old one, or erect new building in the open space, the bench said.
The bench told counsel of the petitioners to present their arguments after examining the site plans of OGH. The matters were posted for September 24.
