Kalimpong Town Hall in desperate need of attention PRADIP LOHAGUN, KALIMPONG, 27 Aug 2014: Situated in the heart of Kalimpong, the Town Hall is in a shambles and requires immediate attention of the authorities. The hall is used for social, officials and other functions in almost a daily basis and has constant inflow of people, but its structure is in such a bad shape that it can give up any moment. Constructed in 1994, the building is also known as Ramkrishna Rangmanch. The building houses Mailyang Lepcha Development Board office in the top floor, while the second floor houses the main auditorium and culture department office and the ground floor houses the treasury department office. The building was damaged partially during the 2011 earthquake, due to which the authorities have disallowed any type of programme on the top floor and a large section has been closed ever since. The town hall also has to cope with noise and smell from the traffic and public toilet nearby. The stage section of the town hall is also almost about to give up, but the authorities have not initiated any efforts to repair it. Town hall workers informed the rods installed for putting up hording for various programmes is also about to give-up. The rods can fall anytime and could be disastrous, they added. Information and Culture department director Paras Kumar Singh has also voiced his opinion on the immediate repair of the hall. “We have informed the PWD and other departments about the requirement of repairs at the Town Hall, but none have responded or taken any steps,” Singh informed, while adding his department is only the caretaker and does not have any authority on sanctioning repair works. According to departmental sources, the amount collected from various events held at the hall is utilised in paying the salary of around seven employees, electricity bills and other minor spending. Therefore, there is not much left to spend for the repair. Kalimpong Town Hall is a landmark building and is used for many social and cultural events. However, due to the hall’s frail structure it is losing its creditability and could completely be lost one day. With the Town Hall gone, many educational, social, cultural, political and other events will not find a platform. This could have a bad affect on the locals of Kalimpong, which is filled with people having deep interest in art, culture and heritage. [The Echo of India]
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 07:27:47 +0000
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