Measures to speed up the much-delayed track doubling of the Bangalore-Mysore double rail track and upgrade of the Mysore South Railway Workshop were initiated at a combined meeting of the officials of the Railways and district administration here today.
A hurdle in the way of the project for the last six months has been a historical monument at Srirangapatna, which needs to be demolished as it stands in the way of the proposed double line.
A magazine house within the fort, one of the eight such storehouses, needs to be relocated if the line has to come through. The meeting appointed a committee headed by the Mandya deputy commissioner and the officials of the Archaeological Department to take a decision within a month and resolve the issue in the best interests of the public.
Briefing reporters on the deliberations, Mysore MP C H Vijayashankar said the Mysore and Mandya deputy commissioners were asked to provide the available staff for taking up survey and acquisition work of lands required for the project within a week. About 50-55 acres are required for the new line between Mysore and Mandya, including Srirnagapatna.
"The land needs to be acquired on war footing and money is no constraint for the Rs 230 crore project, which is running behind the 2009 schedule," he said.
Three more platforms are being added to the existing three at the Mysore Railway Station, which is witnessing modernisation in the final stages.
It was recommended that the vacant land on either side of the railway line, seven acres on the Vontikoppal side and the land adjacent the Vontikoppal railway under bridge, be acquired for expanding the existing platforms, provide additional parking, entry and other facilities.
In this background, a suggestion was also made to shift the Rail Museum to the adjacent open place as part of its Rs 6 crore modernisation scheme, for which tenders would be called in a month to make it a popular tourist spot in Mysore.
It was also decided to call for tenders within a month for widening two bridges, near the Crawford Hall at Rs 11.2 crore and the Vontikoppal underbridge at Rs 7.5 crore, concrete the remaining two platforms at the Goodshed costing Rs 1.23 crore, and create one more coach cleaning facility near Belagola in about a year, Vijayashankar, who presided over the meeting, said.
Another major decision taken was to upgrade the Railway Workshop by providing additional six floors, technical formalities for which have been completed already. It was also recommended to rebuild the staff quarters, the present ones being in a dilapidated condition, the MP added.
