Mussoorie’s Clock Tower to rise again

Ajay Ramola

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, May 24

Residents of Mussoorie, especially of Landour Bazaar, finally have something to cheer about as the Municipal Council has decided to begin the Clock Tower reconstruction work afresh at a new site in the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Park within a month.

The Municipal Council has prepared a design and is proposing a seven to eight-floor Clock Tower with a coffee shop at the top.

The Municipal Council’s decision to construct the demolished Clock Tower at a new place at Deen Dayal Park and not at the old site has created a fresh controversy and left residents of Landour a divided house.

Some residents are of the view that the Clock Tower should come up at the old site while others are of the view that it should be reconstructed at the new site.

The re-construction of the Clock Tower, that was initially constructed by the British in 1940, was demolished during the tenure of the former president OP Uniyal in 2010 to pave the way for a new one at the old site, but the Nainital High Court, passing a stay order, constituted a CBI inquiry on the charges of irregularities in the matter.

Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall said the Nainital High Court had vacated the stay as the CBI inquiry had been completed, clearing the hurdles in the way of Clock Tower’s reconstruction.

A coffee shop is being planned on the top floor of the seven to eight floored Clock Tower as proposed by the council, said Manmohan Singh Mall.