On this World Heritage Day 2019 the Hussainabad clock tower was host to more than just the handful of morning walkers that usually grace its precincts. It saw citizens for Lucknow, a voluntary and motley group of individuals tied by a common cause, take the centre stage with a cleaning and awareness drive to reiterate the point, that our momuments are our combined heritage and taking care of them cannot just be restricted to the authorities, it needs our active involvement too. An abandoned four storeyed tower, a beautiful baradari built around 1838 with a water body, an elegant mosque and a hamam and an adjoining clock tower built in 1881 form the Husainabad Clock Tower area where enthusiastic volunteers of the group aided by the students of CMS, Chowk branch and LMC staff and officials swept and cleaned and pledged their support to keeping our heritage monuments clean. What started as the shared vision of a few concerned citizens culminated in an event involving some two hundred school children from the city montessori school enthusiastically cleaning the area and spreading awareness through placards and skits and rap songs, it involved the staff and officials of the LMC who could not remember when last such an event had happened, it involved almost fifty volunteers who got up that morning spurred by something they read on either facebook or whatsapp and who made their way to the clock tower to show their support. So the water jets cleaned the tower walls and the adjoining stairs, while the young and old armed with brooms and garbage bags picked up trash strewn around the tower and the stepwell generating quite a buzz which was exactly the aim. The Mayor Ma’am Sanyukta Bhatia took time out to visit and encourage the group with her presence and kind words. A Nukkad Natak on the theme of Saving our Heritage was staged later in the evening along with a live wire performance by a 5 year old from lucknow - Devaagya India’s youngest drum soloist winding up a busy and fruitful day. Kudos to the team of #Citizens for Lucknow!
1 Like