Hyderabad: Pigeons damage 135-yr-old iconic Charminar clock

Hyderabad: The 135-year-old clock on the eastern side of historic Charminar was found damaged by visitors to the monument. The authorities took up the repair work on Tuesday. The damage was noticed on the white background of the clock, with a hole observed at the 25-minute mark. The authorities suspected that the damage to the clock had been caused by pigeons, which flock around the clock.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that the damage was assessed along with the family members of Wahid Watch Company, who installed the clock. Ghulam Rabbani of Wahid Watch at Lad Bazar, along with his team, made temporary repairs. “On being informed about the damage to the dial of the clock, we repaired it. A special glue paste was used to join the broken dial and restore it to its near original semblance,” said Rabbani.

The four clocks on the Charminar were installed during the reign of the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, and are displayed in four cardinal directions.

Wahid Watch Company was started by Wahid Khan, grandfather of Sikander Khan, in 1942. After the rule of the Nizams ended in 1947, the clocks of Hyderabad's iconic structure stopped ticking, and Wahid's family has been the reason for the continuous ticking of the clocks since then. After Late Rasool Khan made the clocks with his expertise and hard work, his son Sikander Khan, who had also passed away, and now Ghulam Rabbani took on the responsibility of ensuring that the clocks show the right time to thousands of tourists and uphold the original purpose.