Tamil Nadu   

Tambaram clock tower demolished

Staff Reporter

Move follows council resolution, say local body officials

TAMBARAM: In a midnight operation on Tuesday, the clock tower at Tambaram was demolished by workers of the Tambaram Municipality.

The tower stood near the pedestrian subway on GST Road near the Tambaram bus stand.

While officials of the local body said they demolished the structure following a resolution passed by councillors in November last, a section of the elected representatives belonging to the AIADMK took strong exception to the manner in which a "piece of history" was brought down.

Civic workers assembled near the clock tower around 11 p.m. on Tuesday and brought down the tower in about three hours.

S.R. Raja, Tambaram MLA and former Municipal Chairman, said he had directed the Municipal authorities to pull down the structure.

During the council meeting in November last, the elected representatives gave their nod to a resolution for the tower's demolition, as it was located at the entrance of the pedestrian subway built by the National Highways Authority of India. It posed a hindrance to the general public.

AIADMK's objection

The AIADMK councillors recalled that they objected to it during that meeting, saying there was no necessity to bring it down.

N. Krishnamoorthy, councillor of Ward No. 28, said the subway was built several decades after the clock tower was constructed.

The demolition in a midnight operation raised questions about the administration of the local body.

However, officials said it would have posed problems to the local body as well as the pedestrians had the tower been demolished during daytime.

Two years ago, about Rs. one lakh was spent on renovating the tower and fencing the area.

Officials said the clock tower was built in 1964 and was part of the Jeeva Park. Tambaram was then a panchayat.

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