Surat, 10 October 2014

World’s biggest garden clock will start ticking again soon.

Surat’s Bhestan based Navin florin garden claims to have world’s largest clock. For last some time it has stopped working.

The click was made by Chennai based India Clock and Science. Same firm was responsible for its maintenance and repair. However the company director faced accident and couldn’t give attention to either maintenance or repair.

Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC), therefore contacted several major clock manufacturers in Morbi.

As per the proposal accepted by SMC, the company will spend Rs. 7.50 lakh to repair and maintain the clock but with a condition that the clock will dress its brand name in the middle. Ownership of mechanism of the clock will remain with the company. The company will also have its hoardings located next to clock.

About the clock

The world’s biggest clock was opened on the occasion of golden jubilee of Gujarat’s statehood in year 2010. It is located at Bhestan–Jiav Road and is 2.20 metres bigger than the biggest garden clock of Switzerland. Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) built the clock on a 93,000 sq mt of land given by Navin Fluorine Company where thr SMC has developed the city’s biggest garden, which it has named as Late Navinchandra Mafatlal Garden.

The diametre of the clock, made on natural soil and plantations, is 24.20 metres and each of its hand weighs 800 kg. About 25 per cent of the clock’s dial area has RCC slab incline under which the machinery has been fitted and the rest is just natural soil. The clock at a garden in Zurich, Switzerland has a diametre of 22 metres.

Above the slab, soil filling has been done and glass placed. There is a room under the slab for the clock machinery.The clock letters are made of solid steel (SS) which have been embossed on the natural soil.The SMC took three years to complete the RCC work and the contractors Chennai based Clock India took another one year to fix the machinery. It is set up on Global Positioning System (GPS) and shows accurate time.The clock, which can operate on light and battery too was made/installed at a cost of Rs 12 lakh.