Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary, Karachi. Photo: Anadolu Agency (file)
KARACHI:
The big city of Karachi is often portrayed in headlines as chaotic and overwhelmed by modern sprawl.
But scattered among the skyscrapers, busy roads and dense informal settlements are reminders of another city – a port once celebrated for its order, elegance and architecture.
Among the most striking relics are Karachi’s historic clock towers – orange and rose-pink structures from the late 19th and early 20th centuries – that once controlled the rhythms of the city.
Today, many are crumbling, forgotten or overtaken by encroachment, leaving historians and conservationists concerned that a rare chapter of the city’s past may soon disappear.
In the heart of downtown Saddar, sandwiched between Chinese dental clinics and corner convenience stores, stands the 19th-century clock tower of the Eduljee Dinshaw Charitable Dispensary – now a Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) facility.
The Victorian-era structure, built in 1882, is still in use as a pharmacy, but its once-white wooden windows are now blackened by exhaust. The clock mounted above the entrance has no hands – frozen for decades. On a recent morning, pigeons sat wearily on its weathered stonework while health workers inside performed free dengue tests.
At the back, emergency stairs are crumbling, paint long since removed. Rusting spiral steps towards the top of the tower recall a time when caretakers wound the clock every day.
A few kilometers away, the clock tower of Lea Market – once a favorite public gathering place – is in even worse shape.
A makeshift vegetable market sprawls through the building, while dozens of autorickshaws treat the entrance as a permanent and illegal terminal.
“This was a favorite gathering place for everyone in the area, both young and old, until the 1980s,” said Mukhtar Baloch, a 70-year-old retired teacher.
“I still remember the days when this place was a hub for political and social discussions and public meetings. But with time, it has lost its glory, like many of our other heritage sites.”
Forget the heartbeat of the city
Karachi-based heritage researcher Shaheen Nauman said about 11 clock towers were documented across the city until 2019, most built between 1882 and 1931.
Recent surveys revealed four more in the southern districts, bringing the known number to 15, including Merewether Tower (1884), Holy Trinity Cathedral (1885), Empress Market (1889), Poonabai Mamaiya (1889), Sydenham Passenger Pavilion (1913), Lakshmi (4) Building (192) 9 and Lea.
Of those, only three are still working, Nauman said, and the rest are awaiting official attention.
“These towers were built between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, when watches were a luxury that very few could afford,” she explained.
Urgent conservation needed
There are glimmers of hope. At Empress Market – a focal point of colonial Karachi – the clock tower has come back to life thanks to the passion of local artist and technician Bilal Asif.
Once buried under hundreds of illegal vendor kiosks, the market regained its historic facade after a massive anti-encroachment drive in 2018. But its iconic clock remained broken until Asif stepped in.
“It was a huge challenge to bring back to life a clock that had stopped decades ago,” he told Anadolu.
“But I took on the challenge and got it ticking again. It took weeks of hard work, but I’m glad we managed to restore it.”
Today, this is the only hybrid powered tower clock in Karachi. Among the other clock towers still in operation, the one at KMC headquarters requires weekly winding, while the Merewether Tower clocks are solar powered.
Despite occasional restoration efforts, experts fear the wider picture is bleak.
Architect and heritage campaigner Marvi Mazhar called for structured intervention. “These watches should be declared heritage. There should be monthly checks and the notes should be logged so there can be accountability and inquiries if necessary,” she said.
Nauman agreed that if one tower can be revived, so can others. “These forgotten bell towers were once the heartbeat of the city. They symbolize time itself and its profound importance in human life,” she said. “When the clock at Merewether Tower or the KMC building chimes, its sound takes us back a hundred years – to a time when it was the only guide to set the rhythm of daily life.”
