BENGALURU: The 138-km Bengaluru-Mysuru track-doubling project is in an advanced stage of completion barring a dispute over a piece of land midway at Byadarahalli.
The project received Rs 47 crore in this year’s Railway budget while the state is likely to give Rs 80 crore this year.
The 225-year-old Tipu Sultan’s armoury, located near the Srirangapatna railway station, was a major roadblock in completion of the doubling work along this sector. Work from Bengaluru to Ramanagaram was completed at a cost of Rs 150 crore while the Ramanagaram-Mysuru doubling is being undertaken at a cost of Rs 875 crore, including Rs 208 crore for electrification work.
The armoury falls under the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums of the state government and permission to shift the structure was given in early 2013.
M Ravindranath Reddy, Chief Engineer, Bengaluru Division, told reporters that the work has now been entrusted to private players. “The shifting will be carried out as a joint venture effort by an Indian company and an American company.”
Work on two different stretches, running to 110 km, have been completed and commissioned, he said.
Of the remaining 28 km, track-laying has been completed and 27 km of it will be commissioned in August or September this year. “This stretch got delayed due to a land issue at Byadarahalli. There was a dispute over 2 acres and 6 guntas of land.” The land issue is likely to get resolved in two months’ time and doubling along the stretch would be completed after that. It is only the one-km stretch near the armoury which will be incomplete,” Reddy said.