Time stands still for 170-year-old Bhadra clock

AHMEDABAD: When this clock was installed in 1849 in the historic Bhadra fort — the seat of power of Gujarat since the Sultanate period — the American Civil War was 11 years away and Mahatma Gandhi would be born only 20 years later! The clock has governed life’s rhythms for 170 of the 608 years of the city — from the era of East India Company to the triumphal moment when Ahmedabad was conferred the title of India’s first Unesco World Heritage City.

But this iconic clock’s heart stopped beating two months ago owing to lack of maintenance. The clock has stopped at 6.10 pm. Despite the huge historic value attached to this clock, apparently, the authorities have failed to put a system in place to keep it ticking and tell time to the citizens.

The clock had been fitted with a new mechanism, including weights, in 2016 and had started functioning for the first time since its earlier breakdown in 1960s. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had taken up the project in 2015 to revive the clock. It has two dials: the 7-foot dial faces Bhadra Plaza and the 4-foot dial faces Lal Darwaza. The ASI had called in Navsari-based Percy Daruwala, one of the few experts of tower clocks in Gujarat.

“We had changed the central mechanism and had synchronized the lever system — functioning on weights of 300kg each,” said Daruwala. “The mechanism needs to be wound manually so that the 100kg pendulum functions properly. We have been approached by the ASI for the annual maintenance contract multiple times and each time we provided it with the quote for services. We are yet to hear from it.”

A K Tewari, superintending archaeologist, Vadodara ASI Circle, could not be contacted for comment. ASI sources said that the terms and conditions of the contract were being worked out as the department is aware of the historical value of the clock.