Hyderabad: Pigeons damage 135-year-old Charminar clock

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

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said it assessed the damage in collaboration with family members of the Wahid Watch Company, which installed the clock. Ghulam Rabbani of Wahid Watch in Lad Bazaar, along with his team, carried out temporary repairs. “On being informed about the damage to the clock dial, we repaired it. A special glue paste was used to join the broken dial and restore it to almost its original form,” Rabbani said. The four clocks on the Charminar were installed during the reign of the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, and are displayed in four directions.

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