MYSURU: Tipu Sultan’s armoury at Srirangapatna is all set for relocation to another site on March 2 to pave way for the completion of the Bengaluru-Mysuru rail track doubling work.
The track doubling work had been hampered as Tipu's Armoury, a protected monument of Department of Archeology, sat in the spot where the second rail track was to be constructed.
With the Union government sanctioning Rs 13 crores for the translocation of the armoury, completion of the railway track is expected to be speeded up.
The shifting process will be taken up by South Western Railway through M/S PSL -Wolfe (JV) under supervision by Department of Archeology.
The armoury building is a single storey load-bearing brick masonry structure with arch roofing system and pyramid shape elevation that was built by Tipu between 1782 and 1799, to store ammunition.
As there was no technology in India to shift these structures and with no scope for building replica of Tipu's armoury, Railways has assigned US based company headed by project manager, Jamion Buckingham for the project.
Noting that they have moved bigger structures than the armoury in the United States, Jamion said that the Tipu armoury was a strong structure and the movement of trains nearby or work with machines, had not developed cracks in it.
"We will elevate the whole armoury by one more feet and move it sixty meters away in two days. It will be placed in a spot identified by the Archaeological Survey of India. We will take one more day to rotate the structure and a week more to complete civil works", he added.
South Western Railway, deputy superindent engineer Ravichandran said that the shifting work will be completed by March 5. He said that it would take 45 days to complete ground work and lay railway line for 1.7 kms that is pending for last couple of years.