| Secunderabad Clock Tower Clock Tower |
|
|---|---|
| Location | Secunderabad |
| Type | victory column |
| Height | 120 feet (37 m)[1] |
| Opening date | 1 February 1897 |
| Dedicated to | British officers posted at the erstwhile Secunderabad Cantonment |
| Coordinates | |
Secunderabad Clock Tower is a clock tower located in the Secunderabad region of Hyderabad, India. Constructed in 1860 on 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land, the structure was inaugurated on 1 February 1897.
A firman issued by Nizam Sikandar Jah established the city of Secunderabad after his name in 1806.[2] To honour the progress achieved by the British officers stationed at Secunderabad Cantonment in Hyderabad, the erstwhile British government established 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land for this purpose in 1860.[3] A 120-ft high clock tower was constructed in a park of 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) in 1896.[1] The tower was inaugurated by Resident Sir Trevor John Chichele Plowden on 1 February 1897. The clock on the tower was donated by Dewan Bahadur Seth Lachmi Narayan Ramgopal, a businessman.[2]
In 2003, the tower was placed on a demolition list drawn up by the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad to accommodate the increasing traffic. A senior official at this civic agency of the Government of Andhra Pradesh said that they were trying their best not to demolish this structure.[4] In 2006, the park housing the tower was chosen for renovation by the same agency. Carried out at a cost of 1 crore (US$190,000), the park's size was reduced to widen the roads. In addition, the tower was renovated, the park was landscaped with lawns and hedges, and a waterfall was installed. The renovation was completed in 2005, and the park was inaugurated by then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy in 2006.[1][5] A martyr's memorial was also established inside the park in memory of the first police firing in 1969 during a separate Telangana agitation.[6] Within a year after this, two of the tower's four clocks experienced technical problems and stopped working.[3]
The tower was declared a heritage structure in the twin cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad.[3] It was as a result of the efforts put by the civic agency at sites like this tower that the proposal to seek UNESCO Heritage status for Hyderabad was revived.[7]
In 2006, the 200-year celebrations of the formation of Secunderabad were organized by the Government of Andhra Pradesh. The clock tower was chosen as the subject of the logo, which was designed by a local firm.[8] The outline of the Clock Tower was first conceived by the students of a city architectural college.[9] A short cinema film of 9 minutes, 30 seconds by director Mani Shankar was released as a part of this celebration. The film, which relates the history of the city, features the clock tower in it.[10]
The park housing the tower also served as a venue for promoting various citizen-centric events such as a children's film festival,[11] awareness programs among others.[12]