Does your Shimla house tell a story? Write to tourism dept

Director,Tourism,Dr Arun Kumar said: “I believe there are dozens of old buildings and houses that have their own historical facts. Every month you can find a few foreigners with travel maps and guides climbing the hills up and down to look for old buildings where their forefathers had lived. While some buildings have been demolished,others were damaged in fire or people have changed their names,making it difficult to locate. We propose to unwind all those facts.”

Books like Shimla,Past and Present,Shimla—Now and Then and Imperial Shimla have details about the British landmarks and buildings,which have proved to be very useful for the visitors and travel writers who come looking for interesting details about Shimla and its architecture.

“This initiative is going to be different. We will ask the occupants of those buildings or those living in the vicinity to write in detail if they know about their past. The old timers in Shimla are a repository of such facts. We will gain from their knowledge,” said Kumar.

The writes-ups,he added,would be examined by a team at the directorate level. The facts will be cross-checked and compiled in the form of a book.

In the last four decades,Shimla has witnessed several old buildings and wooden cottages either being flattened for new constructions,or gutted in winter fires — more than 150 cases since 1985— or replaced by multi-storey concrete structures. A few existing buildings have been declared unsafe by the Shimla Municipal Corporation,with their occupants being asked to vacate the premises.

A few important buildings have been gainfully used too. These include Barnes’ Court,now the Raj Bhawan,Ellersile,which serves as the state secretariat,and the Viceregal Lodge,which houses The Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Dr Kumar said: “Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will launch the citizens’ initiative on September 27,appealing to them to write about their own houses as every building in Shimla has its past and their interesting stories should be told to the world outside.”