The iconic Secunderabad clock tower chimes again
GHMC hires Ramesh Watch Company to restore Secunderabad Clock Tower
Hyderabad: After a long gap, Secunderabad’s own Big Ben is chiming!
The clock tower, a major landmark of Secunderabad, which for quite some time had fallen silent is now being restored. One of the oldest of the clock towers in the twin cities and built in 1860, it was defunct and clamouring for attention. As part of a special initiative taken up by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) to renovate and restore all the 12 clock towers of the twin cities, the civic body’s Secunderabad zonal office has restored the clock tower.
The 60-year-old city-based Ramesh Watch Company has worked on the age-old clock. “In January, we were asked to fix the clock at the Moazzam Jahi Market Clock Tower, which we did. It has been almost nine months and the clock is working perfectly well. So, they asked us to get the one at Secunderabad Clock Tower running and it was done recently,” says Laxman Chugani, proprietor, Ramesh Swiss Watch Gallery.
The clocks which have been fixed now are zero maintenance and trouble-free, run with GPS and the lights which are fixed inside, automatically switch on around 6 pm every evening and get switched off at 6 am. The round clock which is fixed at Secunderabad Clock Tower is around 6 feet in height.
Currently, the clock on one side of the tower has been fixed and the one on the other side will be fixed soon.
It’s pure passion about watches and clocks that led Laxman Chugani to Switzerland to do a special course.
“It’s not just the clock towers at Moazzam Jahi Market and Secunderabad, but we also worked on those in Warangal and Eluru. Next, we would be working on the clock in James Street (Secunderabad). We feel proud and happy to be associated with all these historic structures,” he says.
Meanwhile, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar tweeted “After MJ Market, the clock tower chimes restored at Clock Tower Secunderabad. Well done ZC Secunderabad. We will be restoring the remaining such clock towers also”.
Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.
Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .
