High-end cafe to come up at Shimla’s Town Hall building

Shimla, February 4

The Shimla Municipal Corporation has entered into an agreement with a Delhi-based businessman to set up a high-end cafe in the corporation’s historical Town Hall building on the Mall Road here.

Chief Secretary Prabodh Saxena and Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner Ashish Kohli signed the agreement in this regard with Delhi-based businessman Iqbal Singh today.

The cafe, having eating joints of popular international brands, would be spread on around 3,800 sq ft area at the ground floor of the Town Hall building. It is expected to be made functional in three months.

Kohli said, “The cafe will help generate revenue for the corporation that has entered into an agreement with a Delhi-based man who will pay Rs 13 lakh every month to the MC. The agreement has been signed for a period of 10 years.”

The Town Hall building, a 114-year-old British architectural marvel on the Mall Road, has been renovated at a cost of around Rs 8 crore funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Public Works Department (PWD) will set up seven solar power-operated smart bus stops in the city under the Smart City Mission. These stops will have digital boards to display information regarding bus timings and routes and solar lights.

Sudhir Gupta, Executive Engineer, PWD, Shimla, said, “The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2.20 crore. More than 70 per cent of the project work has already been completed and the bus stops are expected to be ready by March 31. These bus stops will be solar power-operated and will have a digital board to display routes and timings of buses. Passengers will also be able to charge their mobile phones there.”

These bus stops would be set up at Tolland (2), Tutikandi (2) and one each at Bemloi, Tara Hall and Nigam Vihar. Besides launching smart bus stops, 10 digital signboards would also be set up in different parts of the city, the work for which had already started. The Municipal Corporation Shimla is also working on some other development projects to provide facilities to the people of the city.

Seven solar bus stops soon

• The PWD will set up seven solar power-operated smart bus stops in the city under the Smart City Mission.
• These stops will have digital boards to display information regarding bus timings and routes and solar lights.
• The estimated cost of the project is Rs 2.20 crore
• The bus stops are expected to be ready by March 31
• The bus stops would be set up at Tolland (2), Tutikandi (2) and one each at Bemloi, Tara Hall and Nigam Vihar