After facing public opposition for its plan to replace the Clock Tower’s old heritage clocks with digital clocks in Dehradun, the municipal commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey clarified that only the machinery in the new clocks will be modern but the clocks will look almost like the old clocks.
Meanwhile, the Mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’ said, “For over a year citizens of Doon have been complaining that the heartbeat of Doon is not working. Now that we are in the last stage of the revival of this heartbeat few people are still not satisfied. The old clocks were not non-repairable but they will be conserved here at Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD).”
Commissioner Pandey said, “There has been a slight confusion. The clocks will appear almost like they were earlier, only the machinery will be modernised.
Very soon the Chennai based firm which is providing the clocks will install the clocks and then people can see for themselves.” It is pertinent to mention here that according to an expert few parts of the old clocks were stolen during the time when the structure of clock tower was undergoing structural strengthening work.
The expert said that during the time doors of Clock Tower were open at all times and several people were able to visit the interiors of the tower. The heritage clock parts are said to have a high value in the antique market. It should be mentioned here that the most prominent landmark of Dehradun- the Clock Tower was inaugurated by the then Union Railway minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1953.
Plans to replace the original clocks with digital clocks had elicited strong opposition from citizens. Heritage expert Lokesh Ohri had also offered to get the old clocks repaired free of cost.