God, what a mess Shimla has become

Shimla. What about Shimla you would be right to ask. The Indians have done to this quite stunning hill station with its Raj era buildings of splendid grandeur what we have done to Murree. Seven- and eight- and 12-storey buildings built on cliff edges; some of the ugliest architecture to be seen anywhere in the world, and people everywhere: smoke-belching buses bulging with them, rashly-driven cars over-laden with them. God, what a mess Shimla has become! The only saving grace is that Shimla is at least 10 times Murree’s size.

By Kamran Shafi
Extact from ‘Peace Talks In Shimla’
Columnist: The Dawn

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4 Comments

  1. says: Des Kashyap

    Money! thats what it is…safety who cares. A single jolt of 5-6 magnitude can bring them to ground with uncountable causalities….its just a matter of time.

  2. says: Kamal Sharma

    The author has very subtly brought the plight of hill stations in the subcontinental to fore (commonality) along with looking for a common ground in the Indo-Pak talks and relationship. He has also challenged the civil bodies and we the people to react and make amends.

    Exodus to town is inevitable. Paucity of living space and governance and control over dwelling places and architecture should have been priority and should have been envisioned. Its late but not too late to go back to the war rooms and fix the things and have plans to restore the lost sheen and pride of the hills.

    Not sure if on his next visit we would be able to put a smile on his face or sadden him further.

  3. says: vinod thakur

    what the hell is govt doing there,,,,not good parking space,no toll bridge there and garbage dumping zone,all the pot-billed politician are sitting there and just enjoying weather ,,, ridiculous thing and making hell to Shimla. Its very bad thing happing in shimla.

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