In a major exercise, for the first time in the country the Indian Railways is relocating an armoury built in 18th century by Tipu Sultan in Srirangapatna near Mysuru in Karnataka for   completion of the track doubling work between Mysuru and Bengaluru.

A US-based company which has the expertise in translocation has taken the contract to move the armoury from its present location to 100 meters away without disturbing the protected monument. According to Railway officials the contract has been awarded to PSl-Wolfe Private limited, a joint venture company for around Rs13.5 crore.

Tipu’s armoury, a structure built in an area of 35 feet by 45 feet on the banks of Cauvery has historical significance. Tipu Sultan was one of the first Indian kings to be martyred on the battlefield while defending his kingdom against the Colonial British.

Tipu Sultan also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He has built rockets to fight the British and also built many secret armories.

The translocation of the historic structure would help the Railways to complete the long-pending 13-km single-line track into a double line between Bengaluru-Mysuru. The armoury at the Srirangapatna railway station on the banks of river Cauvery poses a hurdle to the alignment of a new track.

According to engineers of the company the machine will lift the armoury as a single unit from the ground level by inserting jacks below the building in a unified manner and operate them simultaneously. This would lift the structure and later it would be located 100 metres away from the existing spot.

According to MKS Mukat Sharma, Director of the project and representative of the JVC, the relocation of the monument would take place once the monsoon period ends.

 According to technical experts, translocation of structures using the Unified Jacking System is done in the US and the UK, but not in India. This is the first time such an exercise is being carried out here. An expert team of engineers have started assembling the jacks and would start the work soon.

According to Railway officials once the monument is relocated, the new bridges across the Cauvery - across Cauvery North and Cauvery South-will also be taken up, and the 1.2-km stretch of the double track will be laid soon. The civil works to remove the earth around the monument right down to the foundation of the armoury building is on, while the RCC foundation at the new site is also nearing completion.