Surat

World’s biggest garden clock will start ticking again from January 26.

Surat’s Bhestan based Navin florin garden claims to have world’s largest clock. The clock has stopped working for last few years.

The clock was made by Chennai based ‘India Clock and Science’ company which was responsible for its maintenance and repair. However the company director couldn’t give attention to either maintenance or repair due to personal tragedy he faced following a road accident.

Surat Municipal Corporation(SMC), later contacted several major clock manufacturers in Morbi town of Gujarat which is famous for its clock manufacturing industry.

One of the companies came forward and accepted the proposal to repair the clock with a condition that the clock will be named after that company and company’s name will be placed in the middle of the clock. Also, the ownership of mechanism of the clock will remain with the company, and a hoarding featuring company’s name will be installed next to the clock.

The company has completed 30% procedure of repairing work. Core part of the task which involves repairing and proper arrangement of gears has been completed. According to Akash Shah who is involved in repair work, the task will be completed by 24 January and clock will start working again on 26 January.

About the clock:

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.

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