A tower that ticks and cloaks water

The new Rotary clock tower in Darjeeling

Vivek Chhetri, TT,  Aug 17, 2018, Darjeeling: Darjeeling's most famous landmark, the Capitol Clock Tower, has a twin now.

Even though the new Rotary Tower will not be chiming to the tune of Big Ben in London, it is expected to play a major role in saving life and property of tinderbox Darjeeling.

The turret clock of the Capitol Hall, set up by Darjeeling municipality in the early 1920s, was one of the most visible landmarks in town until the skyline changed with high rises. Those days, apart from its aesthetic appeal, the town used to move with its chime.

The new tower, which was dedicated to the people by the Rotary Club of Darjeeling on Independence Day, is however, expected to act as a giant hydrant.

"The 40ft tall tower has provisions to hold 12,000 litres of water. In case of fire emergencies, we have made provisions for fire engines to refill their tanks," said Tashi Pencho, project director of the clock tower.

The municipality had donated land to Rotary Club to set up the tower. "A dedicated water line has been linked to the tower from a municipality hydrant. This means even as the fire engines are refilling their tanks, our tanks at the tower will also be continuously refilled," said Pencho.

Fire engines are stationed at Dali, 4km from the congested Chowk Bazar. The Rotary tower could be the point of first response for the residents to fire emergencies.

"We are planning to keep a set of keys of the tower at Darjeeling police station (which is barely 100m away) and another set at some prominent place in town," said Pencho.

Plans are afoot to tie up with the fire department to train 30-40 youths from the neighbourhood to set up a first response team. "We will also be keeping fire extinguishers and other tools at the tower," said Pencho.

Members of the Rotary Club and their well-wishers pooled in around Rs 27 lakh for the project.

The clock tower, however, will not only act as a giant hydrant. The ground floor of tower will be used as social service centre. "We will be regularly organising specialist medical camps. We are planning to hold these camps on weekends," said Pencho.

Capitol Clock Tower is located at Ladenla Road and is 75ft high. The diameter of its clock is 7ft, while that of the Rotary clock is 3ft. The Rotary tower is made of granite and Capitol tower is stone.#On Independence Day, a group of doctors organised a free medical camp attended by 220 residents.

The tower also has a library, which will be made open to the public. "We are also planning to hold career counselling courses for the students in the tower space," said Pencho.

Incidentally, Darjeeling Rotary Club had played an instrumental role in repairing the Capitol clock in 2006 and had pooled in Rs 1.5 lakh for repairs after it stop functioning from 1980s. The old Capitol clock chimes to the same tune as Big Ben in London, but the new clock tower will not ring but instead silently work for the welfare of Darjeeling.

On this day, the Capitol clock has once again stopped chiming and urgently needs repair once again.

Location: Chowk Bazar Ladenla Road

Height: 40 feet 75 feet

Clock diameter: 3 feet 7 feet

Made of: Granite tiles Stone

Made in: 2018 1920s

Cost: Rs 27 lakhs Not known.