The Rajendra Tower in Chowk area, Gaya town. Picture by Suman

Gaya, May 30: Gaya Municipal Corporation (GMC) has planned to beautify the almost century-old Rajendra Tower in Chowk area of Gaya town constructed during the British rule. An estimate of around Rs 14.24 lakh has been drawn up for the project for which GMC has invited tenders.

On the other hand, though the GMC board of members has passed the beautification plan, some ward councillors are now opposing it on the pretext that the original shape of the historical tower should not be altered. At least four GMC ward councillors and other residents have submitted a memorandum to the Magadh division commissioner, Vivek Kumar Singh, the Gaya district magistrate and the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) director, requesting them not to change the original shape of the tower.

GMC ward councillor Laljee Prasad told The Telegraph the tower was constructed by then British rule collector of Gaya George Oldhum between 1910 and 1914. In 1981, then Gaya district magistrate Jagdish Chandra Jaitley got the statue of first President of India Dr Rajendra Prasad installed under the tower when Jai Kumar Palit of Congress party was the Gaya Town MLA. The then chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, had inaugurated the statue of Dr Rajendra Prasad.

Four big clocks were installed on all four sides of the tower at the top. People used to match the time of their watches or wall clocks in their houses hearing the bell of the clock installed atop the tower that used to ring every hour. “However, the clock developed some technical faults and was sent for repair. In 2007, when a new team of GMC councillors took oath, new clocks were installed but it had stopped functioning,” said Prasad.

In the tender published by GMC recently, plans were announced to install new clocks for Rs 7 lakh and install granite stone to beautify the tower for Rs 7 lakh. Four ward councillors Laljee Prasad, Chitranjan Verma, Anita Kumari and Khatib-ur-Rab apart from other people, including Surendra Ji Surendra and Pappu Kumar Tarun, have submitted the memorandum to the Magadh division commissioner, the district magistrate and the ASI director.

GMC city commissioner Dharmesh Thakur told The Telegraph: “If the councillors felt that the beautification of the Rajendra Tower should not be carried out, they should have opposed it during the meeting of GMC board of members. I have sought details of the tower.”