Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Metropole Hotel in Nainital to Serve as Temporary Parking Facility

Approval by the Home Affairs Ministry follows Uttarakhand’s plea to ease chronic traffic gridlock.

Image

Overview

  • On May 28, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued formal directives allocating the Metropole Hotel grounds to the Uttarakhand government for temporary public parking.
  • Home Minister Amit Shah approved the proposal after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami highlighted the town’s acute shortage of parking spaces.
  • The 10-acre site can accommodate over 1,000 vehicles, promising significant relief for Nainital’s persistent traffic congestion.
  • Built in 1880 and once hosting figures like Mohd Ali Jinnah, the hotel was declared enemy property in the early 1960s and later fell into disrepair under encroachments.
  • Authorities evicted 134 families in 2023 under Supreme Court orders and secured an ad-hoc No Objection Certificate in October 2024 before finalizing the parking scheme.