GPO clock tower to get back its original look
LUCKNOW: The restoration work at General Post Office clock tower has entered its final phase. Officials with the postal department said that in the final phase, slated to start in a couple of weeks, colouring work will be carried out at the colonial era edifice.
“Colouring is the main work in the final phase. It will be ensured that the clock tower, which presently wears a different look, is back in its original colour - that is snow white,” said an official with the civil wing of the postal depart- ment. Officials shared that the present brown colour of the clock tower was due to the re-plastering that the tower underwent around six month ago. Re-plastering was done using traditional building materials such as surkhi and lime. This fetched the building’s outer surface a reddish brown look. “I am sure that the colouring work will also bring to an end all queries about the colour scheme of the clock tower,” further said the officer. While in the first phase, re-plastering and strengthening work was carried out, the final phase, which is estimated to cost around Rs 20 lakh, will also include the restoration of Postman hall, situated at the back of the GPO main building.
The building, in possession of the postal department, has housed the GPO for over seven decades now. From time to time, maintenance work has been carried out at the building. In 2009, the interiors underwent large-scale renovation.
The GPO building has a long history dating back to the British times. Yogesh Praveen, an expert on Lucknow’s history and culture said, “The building served as the ‘Ring Theatre’ and was a place of entertainment for the British. Plays, performances, films, etc were screened and Indians had strictly restricted entry.”
The building also served as the court where hearings of the Kakori train loot case were conducted, informed Praveen. “It was here that death sentence for Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqulla Khan was announced, which led to fury among Indians. People broke glasses, furniture and damaged the building. In view of that, the British decided not to reconstruct the structure and divided it into two parts – the park and the building. The GPO was then shifted to this building from Begum Kothi in Janpath, in 1929.” Vivek Kumar Daksh, director, postal headquarters UP circle, said, “We are set to start the final phase of restoration. The postal department’s civil wing has ensured that the work is carried out as per heritage building norms, making use of prescribed and permissible materials.” The entire work, he said, would be completed by October.