Heritage Watch: Time running out for this clock tower

William Satish sends us this photograph of the famed Pattalam Clock Tower and wonders as to the fate it awaits. Inaugurated on August 4, 1948, it was originally designed as the centrepiece of the Selvapathi Chettiar Park – a two-kilometre stretch of green on Strahans Road.

The inauguration of the tower was by Dr. U. Krishna Rao, then Mayor of the city. The clock tower is owned by the Corporation of Chennai.

The park itself commemorates one of the founders of the Madras Labour Union – the first such body in India. The presence of the Binny Mills in this neighbourhood made it a labour hotspot. In the years after Independence, the park was the space where public meetings were held, with politicians addressing the workers, eager to canvas their votes.

With Binny itself becoming history in the 1980s and much of its land being carved up and sold, the park’s days were numbered. A neighbouring high rise required road access. At the same time, the Corporation desired to widen the road and despite protests by residents, the park vanished one night in 2016. The tower it was alleged, was slated for demolition too but was miraculously spared.

But then it was wilfully neglected – which in our city is a sure precursor for eventual demolition. A recent visit by your editor revealed the door to the tower wide open, with complete access to the clock mechanism – of course to enter requires guts while your editor believes discretion is the better part of valour! But what prevents the Corporation from maintaining the tower is a mystery.

Please follow and like us: