SRINAGAR, June 6: In an effort to set it of use, four new clocks have been installed on Kashmir’s iconic clock tower-the Ghanta Ghar at the historic city centre Lalchowk.
The clocks were installed by the Lal Chowk Traders’ Association- a body of nearly 600 shopkeepers and other business establishments- and were inaugurated by Minister of State for Tourism Nasir Aslam Wani and the Traders’ Association president Deen Mohammad Mattoo.
The tower has been witness to all the political activity of the valley including huge public protests and gunbattles during the two decades of an armed rebellion against Indian rule in the region.
But it had for long failed to fulfil its purpose- to tell the time.
More than four years ago new clocks were installed in place of the old ones which had been defunct for too long. But something went wrong and each of them showed a different time.
Later they were damaged by flag-hoisting protesters during the mass public uprising during the summer of 2010.
Pushed by the huge rush of tourists to the valley this year, shopkeepers in Lalchowk, which is also the commercial hub of the city, felt the need to set things right with the tower. “The clock tower is the main attraction of Lal Chowk, so we decided to fit it with clocks,” Mattoo said.
The authorities had decided ro fit new clocks in the tower two years ago. “But the plan was shelved after Kashmir Valley was engulfed in protests that year,” Nasir aslam Wani was quoted by PTI as saying.
But then the shopkeepers decided to take it upon themselves. “The tower looked desolate without the clocks and it didn’t give a good feeling. That is why we had to take this initiative,” Mattoo said.
