Shimla, Sep 16 (IANS): British-era Clarke's Hotel, a prominent landmark on Shimla's Mall Road, was reopened Sunday after remaining closed for two months due to cave-in threats, a hotel official here said.

"The hotel was reopened after taking measures to strengthen the foundation of the building; it's totally safe now," Clarke's Hotel general manager D.P. Bhatia told IANS.

He said the hotel was temporarily shut July 15 as the hotel's boundary wall and the garden had collapsed due to digging activity in its vicinity, posing a threat to the hotel's main building.

The trouble started in May when the construction of lawyers' chambers of the Himachal Pradesh High Court building began in the vicinity of the hotel. At that time, huge cracks appeared on the boundary walls of the hotel and on the road, running beneath the hotel.

Construction of the lawyers' chambers was later temporarily stopped.

Clarke's Hotel, which came into existence in 1898, was the first hotel purchased by Oberoi Group founder M.S. Oberoi.