Waterproofing tar felt sheet cripples New Market tower clock restored recently
Times of India | 29 March 2026
Kolkata: The four-face Gillett & Johnston Westminster clock in New Market clock tower that was repaired and made functional recently through a privately funded initiative stopped working on Tuesday after an attempt to waterproof the clock's machine room inside the tower jammed the mechanism.
The problem was detected when the person, who winds the clock three times a week, visited on Tuesday and saw the clock had stopped working. Swapan Dutta and his son, Satyajit, who had repaired and restored the clock last month have been attempting to fix it since. On Saturday, they could manage to restart the clock after fixing several misalignments but are monitoring to see if it can manage to maintain time.
The father-son duo, who have been maintaining the clock free of cost for a month now, said the problem could have easily been avoided had they been consulted when the tar felt sheets were laid.
The first thing Satyajit did after the problem was identified was to get the tar felt sheets removed. "The sheets were wrapped around a connecting rod that controls the time displayed on the four dials and jammed its movement. As it attempted to unwind despite the obstacle, various parts of the clock got deformed and its alignment went haywire," said Satyajit.
A representative of Kolkata Restorers, the citizen-led initiative that made the Rs 50 lakh restoration of the tower and the clock possible, hoped the vintage clock would continue to function like it had for nearly a century until lack of maintenance had stopped it over a decade ago.
"We expect KMC to maintain the clock and the tower," said Mudar Patherya, who coordinated the restoration with a private firm, Techno Electric & Engineering, which funded the project and architects Anjan and Saptarshi Mitra who restored the tower.
The damaged tower was restored from July 24, 2025 to Dec 22, 2025. Work on the clock started thereafter and was completed a couple of weeks ago.
The New Market tower clock is only one of four such clocks in India. The other three clocks are at IIEST Shibpur, Lower Parel railway workshop in Mumbai and Chennai Municipal Corporation.
The Duttas had not only fixed the time but also revived the clock's striking mechanism. As the quarterly chimes and hourly dongs rang through the area, it had revived old memories. Shopkeepers hope the clock that resumed working on Saturday will continue to chime forever.