Prakasam: The famous ‘Workers Siren’ atop the hill near the R&B bungalow in Seetha Ram Puram, close to Devuni Cheruvu, in Ongole, Andhra Pradesh, marks six decades since its installation.
Set up in 1966 atop the Old Filter Bed hill, the Ongole siren was built when watches were rare, and phones didn’t exist. Its job was simple- tell the city’s folks when to start work. Sixty years on, it still does, five times a day, making it easy for anyone to know what time it is. Sanitation workers stationed near the hill sound the first siren at 5:00 AM sharp n the morning, next at 8:00 AM, 12:00 noon, and the next two sirens are in the evening hours at 5:00 PM, and the last call at 8:00 PM.
The dawn call is the most iconic. “A rooster’s crow might be delayed, but this siren rings with absolute punctuality at 5:00 AM,” locals say. For many workers, the day truly begins only when it sounds. Times have changed. Wristwatches and alarm clocks came and went, and now it is the era of mobile phone alarms.
However, the locals of Ongole insist the siren remains the easiest, most reliable timekeeper. “We don’t need a watch,” one says, “The siren tells us.”
Known popularly as the “Workers’ Siren,” it was installed to serve labourers across Prakasam district’s headquarters. In the pre-digital era, the morning blast sent workers rushing to their jobs. Today, the Municipal Corporation officials still operate it on schedule.
From 1966 to 2026, the siren continues to greet ‘Ongolians’ with the same distinct call, waking residents and marking shifts, and remains an iconic, trusted, and precise heartbeat of the city.
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