| Monument Name: | Secunderabad Clock Tower |native_name = Clock Tower|image = Clock Tower Secunderabad.jpg|caption =|location = Secunderabad, Telangana|designer =the nizam|type = victory column|material =|length =|width =|height = [1] |begin =|complete =|open = |dedicated_to = British officers posted at the erstwhile Secunderabad Cantonment|map_image = |map_caption =|map_width =|coordinates = 17.4408°N 78.4985°W|extra = |
Secunderabad Clock Tower is a clock tower located in the Secunderabad region of Hyderabad, India. Constructed in 1860 on 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 of land for this purpose in 1860.[3] A 120-ft high clock tower was constructed in a park of 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, 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 organised 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]