The renovation and beautification work of the historical Clock Tower in Dehradun is underway and likely to be completed in the near future. While the structural strengthening work is expected to be completed in the coming 10 days, the beautification work is slated to be completed within a period of six months.
The Dehradun municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande informed that the project includes retrofitting to strengthen the structure of the Clock Tower. Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) and chemical barrier will also be incorporated. Chemical barrier is an application on the external part of building walls to protect the structure from damage by pests.
He further informed that retrofitting and chemical barrier around the Clock Tower will cost about Rs 66 lakh which will be expended by the municipal corporation. Apart from this the beauficiation work will be undertaken at a cost of Rs 76 lakh provided by the ONGC under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.
Talking about the progress of work, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun assistant engineer Rachna Payal said that the work is divided into two phases. Phase one which consists of the strengthening of the tower, repairing of the machinery and the bell of the clock is expected to be completed in about 10 days.
The second phase- beautification is expected to be completed in about six months.The plan is to fix lED lighting in fountains surrounding the tower apart from which landscaping and plantation will also be undertaken,” she added. It is worth mentioning here that the foundation stone for the Clock Tower was laid on July 24, 1948, by the then Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Sarojini Naidu.
After five years spent on its construction, the Clock Tower was inaugurated in October 1953 by the then Union Railway Minister lal Bahadur Shastri.The tower is about 80 feet high and is unique due to its hexagonal shapes with clock dials on all the six sides of the tower.