MHA allows use of Nainital's historic Metropole Hotel complex as temporary parking space

Dehradun: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed the Uttarakhand government to temporarily use the Metropole Hotel complex in Nainital as a parking space.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said this in a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who had requested Shah to temporarily allocate the hotel complex for parking vehicles, given the serious parking problem in Nainital.

The decision is expected to ease traffic woes in the city and provide relief to tourists and locals in Nainital -- a major tourist destination.

Dhami thanked Shah for allowing the hotel complex to be used as a parking space.

Built in 1880, Nainital's Metropole Hotel was a lavish place frequented by celebrities — Jinnah spent his honeymoon here and Hungarian painter Elisabeth Sass Brunner created the 'Last Winter' while she was one of its guests. It was also one of the first designated enemy properties. Over a 100 families that had encroached on its land were recently evicted.