Ghanta Ghar, known as the city’s icon is 100-year-old and is dying fast. A look around the tall memorial built in 1906 is enough to drive home the point that there are no takers for heritage in this city which speaks business all the time.

The very foundations of Ludhiana Victoria Memorial are eroding rapidly. The stone slabs at one of the four gates of the monument are already caving in as the earth underneath is eroding away. Several small to medium-sized peepal trees have come up on stone steps all around the building except at the front gate side. Some tiny peepals can also be spotted in the walls of the monument. These peepals if not checked in time can cause extensive damage to the walls. The old city has several buildings which have big peepals grown over them. That can happen with Ghanta Ghar also. 

When this correspondent visited the place this morning, a couple of children and women were relaxing at the front steps at the end of their shopping spree. And the space near the iron grill around the building was littered with garbage, very similar to a dirty street. It presented at perfect picture of utter neglect.

Even the foundation stone plaque has been damaged. It states that the foundation stone of Ludhiana Victoria Memorial was laid by Mr Dewan Chand, Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, at the special request of the Victoria Memorial Subscription Committee. The dateline is not readable anymore because of the damage which is being caused to the building. This correspondent remembers having read the date, which was sometime in 1904, only a few months ago.

Some people have made the historical building their night shelter and hang around it in the daytime as well. The scatter garbage inside the building.