DEVELOPMENT AT WHAT COST?: The large tract of empty land in the sylvan Government Chest Hospital that is to be used for multi-storeyed complexes . — PHOTO: P.V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD: A part of the Government General and Chest Hospital's verdant acreage at Erragadda could soon end up yielding space to bustling commercial complexes.

This follows a decision taken in May to lease out vacant Government hospital lands for commercial activity to generate resources for health institutions in the State. The Chest Hospital campus is spread over 60 acres and with buildings occupying around 20 acres, the rest was used to develop a green envelope over the years.

Breathing space

Few hospitals, except the likes of the Institute of Mental Health at Erragadda and to an extent, the Gandhi Hospital at Musheerabad, have this kind of breathing space. According to officials, the unused vacant land at the Chest Hospital has been sounded as a prospective location to give way for commercial development.

The orders issued by Government sought to identify such vacant lands and authorised the Hospital Development Societies (HDS) to call for tenders and lease the same out for a period of 25 years to the highest bidder.

The lease amount is to be fixed initially for one year with automatic increase of 5 per cent every year. The HDS would take the responsibility of ensuring that bidding process was conducted in a transparent manner and it has been vested with the right to terminate the lease at any time by giving a three-month notice, the order says.

Patient care services

One of conditions laid down calls for the shopping/commercial complex to be located in such a way that the hospital functioning would not be `adversely affected'. The revenue generated from the lease has to be credited into the HDS account and used for the development of patient care services in the hospital.

Director of Medical Education I.V. Rao said no action has been initiated so far in the leasing out of land for commercial purposes at hospital premises in the city. Few hospitals have excess land and the decision would be made by the HDS after assessing each institution, he said.

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