BY: SHARIQ AMIN FAROOQUI

With the end of British Empire in sub continent India as a result of which Pakistan and India came into being. Their rule may be over but the legacy left by them still exists in both the nascent countries. Pakistan is also blessed to have many archaic clock towers and buildings bearing crosses which were the main feature of the British mode of construction can still be seen in various cities of Pakistan. In Karachi we have few clock towers and buildings and the Erskine Wharf Clock Tower is one such historical place which tells stories gone with the wind and into the blue.

The tower and its adjacent building which once was an active component of the port operations at Karachi Port cease to exist today. The boilers inside the area used to gauge the strengths of steel ropes which the port used for handling cargoes. The ropes that broke with 25 tonnes was only allowed to carry load not more than 5 tonnes as per international standards (1:5 ratio).The clock tower was also the contact point of Karachi Port. The vessels arriving at the outer anchorage are first monitored and contacted by Manora Lighthouse and later the information was passed on to the Erskine Wharf tower for tugging and pilotage request.

Through flagging system, the tower was able to inform the port users about arrival of their vessels whether they are at the outer anchorage or berths. It used to have the flagging system to indicate swell in sea waters especially in the monsoon season. Similarly the staff located here were able to register information about injuries in the arriving vessels through flags on ships. Flags basically were also the mode of communication, apart from that conveyed through walkie-talkies, between the port authority and the arriving vessels at the port. The tower, through its lighting system, used to guide the vessels in the channel. All kind of data related to arrivals and departure of vessels are recorded and maintained by the Erskine Wharf staff. It remained functional for quite some time even after the independence of Pakistan in some form or the other. Only in the early or may be late nine-tees of the 20th Century was it closed down completely and replaced by a newly renovated/constructed Karachi Port Operations Centre (KPOC) at the Return Wharf (near berth number 1 of Karachi Port).

The KPOC, unlike the Erskine Wharf Clock Tower, does not gauges the strengths as ports globally have entered into handling containerized cargoes through latest gantry cranes but maintains information related to arrivals and departures of ships by using the latest computer technology. It has now become the nerve centre of Karachi Port as it monitors every single activity taking place inside the port area. Cameras have been placed inside the port area and any activity taking place by the port users and visitors are also monitored and recorded in the computer.

It is interesting to note, even from the remains, that the clock tower is 107 feet high. Its clock dial is of 6 feet. Its wall size is 21 inches and the total width of tower is 19 feet and 6 inches. The height from door step to road level is 1 feet. It is in dire straits these days and its revival is what we require now for our future generations. It should be renovated for architectural history students who learn a lot from these archaic. Having latest technology is good but the maintenance of old archaic in good shape is also our national responsibility.