Hyderabad: Garbage piles and haphazard parking at one of the state’s largest healthcare facilities, Osmania General Hospital (OGH), have left both attendants and local residents frustrated. The main entrance, which should serve as a welcoming gateway for patients, has instead become a bottleneck of chaos and hygiene concerns.
The irregular parking not only obstructs access to the hospital but also disrupts nearby business operations. Ambulances frequently struggle to navigate through illegally parked vehicles. To make matters worse, the pavement outside the hospital has been encroached upon by street vendors, forcing pedestrians onto the busy road.
During peak hours, the situation deteriorates further, with vehicles parked in multiple rows, leaving minimal space for emergency vehicles to pass. Inside the hospital premises, which accommodate over 1,000 inpatients and outpatients daily, the absence of proper signage and direction boards for vehicle parking adds to the confusion, according to attendants of patients.
Local residents complain that GHMC workers visit the area only sporadically, leading to waste accumulation that attracts stray animals and causes foul odours. Both hospital visitors and nearby establishments routinely dump their waste at the hospital’s main gate. Despite repeated complaints to municipal authorities and the police regarding the matter, no action has been taken.
“Regular police patrolling could help curb unauthorised parking, while the installation of CCTV cameras might deter illegal garbage dumping. Without coordinated efforts from multiple departments – including the GHMC, traffic police, and hospital management – the situation is unlikely to improve, affecting the thousands who depend on this vital healthcare facility,” said R Vijay Reddy, a resident of Afzalgunj.
Hospital authorities acknowledge these issues but claim their jurisdiction extends only within the hospital premises. “We have requested assistance from the traffic police to monitor unauthorised parking near the hospital entrance. Additionally, the improper disposal of waste near the hospital has become a serious nuisance, creating an unsightly appearance at the entrance,” said an official at OGH.
GHMC officials blamed shop owners who discard their rubbish after business hours. “We have cleared two garbage-vulnerable points in the hospital vicinity, yet vendors continue to dispose of their waste at the hospital entrance daily. We will deploy a sanitary field assistant every day to remove the accumulated waste from the hospital premises,” said N Venkata Ramana, Sanitation Officer, Goshamahal Circle, GHMC.