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This large open space in the heart of
town
presents excellent views of the mountain ranges. Shimla's
landmarks - the neo- gothic structure of
Christ Church and the neo - Tudor library building - are worth seeing.
Altitude is 2130 meters.
The Ridge is not only a portion of land in
Shimla, it contains its life line. The water reservoir beneath it has a
storage of ten lac gallons of water. The reservoir was constructed without
using a ounce of cement in the eighteen eighties and only lime morter has
been used. A major port on of the flat land consist of the debris and has
resulted into so called sinking zone. The church on the ridge has a witness
to numerous historical moments. The Ridge used to be a sacred place and may
be the reason that the then Municipal Engineer Mr. Fletcher had the temerity
to lay before the vehicle of the viceroy so as to stop him from crossing the
Ridge.
Poor Engineer must having a night mare in his
grave since even the air outlet of the Ridge reservoir stand removed!
Mahatma Gandhi's statue on the Ridge must have been a logical fall out of
the Indian Independence, but the Ridge is now adorned by more statues
prompting old timers to term it as "Butt Kadan" i.e. "House of Statues". The
rainfall on the Ridge results water taking two separate courses, one leads
to the Bay of Bengal and the other to the Arabian Seas. Some rationalists
point out that where even water get divided the opinion are seldom likely to
be one, it is but natural that even before the Shimla summit concluded its
obituary had been splashed by the media! The Ridge continue to evoke
different opinion and definitely the same would be the fate of 24th March
rally!
Courtest: Goveshna Sharma
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