Lucknow's Nehru Manzil: Not even a pale shadow of the grand structure it was billed to be

LUCKNOW: Nehru Manzil is no longer the dream destination Rajiv Gandhi had imagined it would be.

Planned as a 13-storey structure and the city's first skyscraper, it's not even a pale shadow of the grand structure it was billed to be. Construction's repeatedly stalled over lack of funds.

Rubbish dumped by Kaisabagh residents raises a stink, most of the 200 shops are shut. Some of these, locals say, were vacated recently after Associated Journals Limited (AJL), National Herald's parent company bought them back. AJL owns Nehru Manzil. In some cases, AJL apparently paid thrice the shops' original costs. Congress veteran Motilal Vora, they say, was chief negotiator. Few shops that hold on tenaciously offer a curious medley — one offers band-baaja services for weddings, another specialises in chairs for beauty parlours. On the outside is a home furnishings store whose owner says he'll never vacate. "They can build what they want. We won't move," says Alok Pandey. Tucked away in the rear is AJL's registered office. National Herald's manager of yesteryear, DN Kanaujia, still sits here. Refusing comment, he says: "I'm only a manager. Big guns in Delhi are handling the case." The most interesting nugget here is the dargah at the back of the building. Noor Mian, of Dada Mian's dargah, says the shrine was discovered in 1997.