NDMC to hold next ordinary meeting at the historic Town Hall

Seeking to reemphasise heritage value of the Town Hall, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation will hold its next ordinary House at the nearly 150-year-old city landmark, which once served as the headquarters of the erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
MCD, the predecessor to the Delhi Municipality, came into existence in 1958, following the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act of 1957, and its first meeting was held at the Town Hall in 1958.
"The next ordinary meeting of NDMC for the month of October would be held in the Meeting Hall at the historic Town Hall building, situated at Chandni Chowk. For the meeting, former councillors would also be invited to relive the memories," North Delhi Mayor Ravinder Gupta today said.

The MCD was trifurcated in 2012 into -- North, South and East Corporations.
The headquarters which were located till about 2009 at the Town Hall began shifting once the Civic Centre came on the Minto Road.
While NDMC and SDMC have their head offices housed in the Civic Centre, EDMC is headquartered in Patparganj area.

The NDMC had initiated an ambitious restoration project for the historic building during the UPA regime but after change of guard at the Centre, the project has gone into doldrums.
"Town Hall is part of our history and we will try to reemphasise its importance through this meeting so as to attract people's attention to it," Gupta said.

Known originally as the Lawrence Institute, the Hall was the original seat of the Delhi Municipality.
"The building was originally used by the British to hold public meetings. Built in yellow-painted brick and stone, and carved white stone trim, it was bought by the municipality around 1866 for its use," a senior NDMC official said.
The ornate columns, arched windows and the carvings on the porticos, are an additional attraction at this historic sentinel which has seen the eras of tramways and Victorian clock towers.
The area opposite the Hall is still called 'Ghanta Ghar', even long after the Gothic Clocktower was dismantled by the British in the 1940s.