lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on Saturday visited the historic Town Hall and instructed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) officials that proper provisions for easy access to the building should be a part of the proposed redevelopment plan.
He was also given a presentation by officials of NMC on re-development scheme of ‘Town Hall’. He also advised the officials to ensure regular maintenance and upkeep of the building.
Town Hall, a landmark building in Walled City area, was the seat of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) from 1866 during the British era till late 2009, when offices shifted to another location in the national Capital. The construction of building started in 1860 and was completed in 1863. It was initially known as lawrence Institute and housed Delhi College of Higher Studies, before it was bought by the Municipality for Rs 135,457 in 1866. Originally a bronze statue of Queen Victoria stood in front of the hall. After independence in 1947, it was replaced with a statue of the Arya Samaj leader Swami Shraddhanand. It may be recalled that the North Corporation on July 21 announced to redevelop it into a centre of cultural and social heritage.
He was accompanied by the Commissioner of North MCD, Principal Secretary (PWD), CEO (Delhi Jal Board), secretary (Transport and Power), Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), CEO DUSIB and other senior officers of various agencies visited.
l-G also visited areas of Chandni Chowk, Hanuman Mandir area, and Yamuna Bazaar. Baijal emphasised on the need for creation of new parking lots and up gradation of the existing parking lots by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) to cater to the growing requirement of the area and also for ensuring proper day-to-day cleanliness and sanitation of the area. For beautification of the area, he directed for steps to be expedited for ducting of electrical wires, hanging over the roads and galis.
He also directed North MCD to coordinate with other a0gencies like 'Traffic Police' and 'PWD' for preparation of complete traffic circulation plan of the area.
l-G also asked Commissioner (Transport), GNCTD and Joint CP (Traffic) to ensure regulated plying of registered e-rickshaws.
lieutenant Governor after inspecting town hall visited Hanuman Mandir flyover and directed for time bound beautification under the flyover. He was informed that there is a proposal for construction of two multilevel stack parking lots in the area and for installation of one flower waste processing machine near the temple premises.