Land acquisition issue mars rail track doubling work

MYSURU: The doubling of the rail track between Mysuru and Bengaluru has hit hurdles due to land acquisition issues in Mandya district. Former railway minister Sadananda Gowda, on his first visit to Mysuru after assuming charge, had assured that the project would be completed by March 2015, but in all likelihood it will miss another deadline.
Pradeep Kumar Saxena, general manager, South Western Railway on Thursday told TOI that there are problems in acquiring land in Byadarahalli."We have spoken to the deputy commissioner of Mandya in this regard. Once land acquisition issues are solved, it will take a minimum of 120 days to complete the project," he said.
Saxena said that of the 133-km stretch, work is complete on 101-km track. is already completed and the work of shifting Tipu Armory in Srirangapatna is in progress. The work on shifting the 800-tonne Tipu armoury in Srirangapatna to 50m away, entrusted to a US-based company, is in progress.
"Out of 133kms stretch, between Bangalore and Mysore, the work of 101 km is completed and just the work of 32km is pending. The 29-km stretch from Yellur to Naganahalli needs to be completed and 2-3km stretch at Srirangapatna Railway station where shifting of Tipu Armory is under progress needs to be completed. The work is going on at a brisk space and we are hopeful of completing it in a few months," said Anil Kumar Agarwal, divisional railway manager, Bengaluru division, South Western Railway.
The track doubling project started in 2007-08 and was expected to be completed in 2012.
The project has since been delayed due to various reasons. but due to various problems including land acquisition, the work getting delayed and now it has come to final stage and expected to be completed in another four months time.