The Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) Building is one of the many old buildings located at MA Jinnah road and has evolved an iconic status as one of the landmark structures of Karachi.
Next year (2007) marks the 75th Anniversary of the inauguration of the building and the city plans to celebrate the occasion in style. That is good news.
The foundation stone for the KMC Building was laid in 1895, construction was completed in 1930, followed by the inauguration in 1932.To mark the building’s platinum jubilee, programs would be organized in all towns of Karachi on the topic of “Our Karachiâ€Â?.
These programs would be organized from January 7 to 20. Moreover, a central three-day celebration would be held on the premises of the old KMC building. According to Daily Times:
Various competitions would be held among students of government schools from November 13 to December 13, while debate competitions would be organized for students of private schools from November 20 to 25. Moreover, a quiz competition will be held from November 27 to December 2, and a poetry competition will be organized from December 4 to 9. A poster-painting competition will also be held from December 11 to 16. Successful candidates would be given a chance to participate in the finals during the “Our Karachi� celebrations from January 8 to 11. School bands from all towns would perform on major roads. Additionally, a walk has been organized from January 8 to 11. More than 3,000 students are expected to participate.
For last few years, the buildings clock is also out of order. The City District Government, Karachi (CDGK) plans to get it fix the main clock before the platinum jubilee.
The clock mechanism comprises a three-story building and heavy machinery to keep it running. Two engineers from Hyderabad have been enlisted who are said to have expertise in fixing clocks from the days of British. Hopefully by the time the celebrations start the clock will be ticking off too.
Unaiza Nasim, based in Karachi, and also blogs at Metroblog Karachi. (Main Photo Credit: ZAK at Flickr.Com)
These old buildings with clocks looked good and teh clock was a useful thing. Made people respect time. Why dont we have them on new buildings.
Must say, this has made me think. I have passed by and seen this buuilding all my life. Never thought of it as special. Until now. Maybe because I knew nothing about it. Now Iwill never see it as the same again. Thanks
It is indeed an iconic and landmark building of Karachi. I have childhood memories of going inside the KMC with my father to complain about the absence of drinking water in our locality :)
It is interesting to note that foundation stone of the building was laid in 1895 and building was inaugurated in 1932. That is 37 long years of construction. A whole generation must’ve seen it getting constructed for ever while they grew up :)
The longest ever public project that I remember was the construction of Nazimababd Flyover. That project took more than 5 years to complete and is nothing but a straight bridge across. Karachi has come of age since then as public projects especially flyover bridges now do get completed within couple of years. e.g. Liaquat flyover, NIPA flyover, Clifton Flyover, Nursery Flyover, National Stadium flyover, FTC flyover all got completed in less than 3 years.
Is the clock fixed already? I thought they are going to fix it but it has not been yet?
This building has very iconic and strong presence.
Thank God the clock is finally fixed…