Mysuru: After spending more than Rs 15 crore for shifting 228-year-old and 1,050-tonne Tipu armory at Srirangapatna Railway station, the historic monument is crying for help. The place that houses the armoury of the controversial ruler of Mysuru has now become a place for the anti-social elements to consume alcohol and resort to various illegal activities.
Amidst pro- and anti-Tipu protests, the authorities have restored an armoury from the age of Mysuru ruler at his capital Srirangapatna. The armory was translocated with the help of experts from US, only to pave way for the double-tracking work of Mysuru-Bengaluru railway line about one year ago. It was one of its kind engineering and conservation effort in India.
In the interest of people, community and respect to ancient monuments, though the authorities could have gone ahead using the same materials and reconstructed the armory at another place, the authorities came out with an innovative idea, which in itself scripted history. On March 10, 2017, Railways with the help of US-based Wolfe and New Delhi based PSL Engineering created a record of its kind by physically relocating 1050 tonne Tipu Armory to its present location, which is nearly 130mtr away from its previous location.
With this shifting, the 1.7 K.M. stretch of doubling work near Kaveri Bridge at Srirangapatna, which was pending due to the location of Tippu’s Armoury right in the way of proposed alignment of Double track was taken up and was completed in November last year. Though the initial work of shifting Tipu Armory started on October 2014 itself, it gained momentum in January, last year, when the experts from America and Delhi based firm joined hands.
However, the saddest part of the story is that after so much of noise around the shifting, the authorities have failed to maintain the monument now. The historically significant monument has become a den for all kinds of illegal activities. Locals say that with the fall of dusk, several people gather here to consume alcohol and to indulge in other illegal activities.
“With mobile lights on, we do not know what are the sort of activities that these people indulge into, ” says a local resident adding that many even bring in their gattle to graze around the area!
Mohan, Senior Section Engineer, Construction, South Western Railway speaking on behalf B Ramesh, Deputy Chief Engineer, Construction, South Western Railway said “The archaeology department has asked for few photographs and other details about Tipu Armory, which we will be submitting at the earliest. We will soon hand over Tipu Armory to them”. When asked about lack of maintenance of Tipu Armory, Mohan was surprised and assured to do best at the earliest.
