A committee has also been constituted by the Railways which is seriously examining the best method to carry out the task.
The issue of relocating the armoury, which comes in the way of laying a second railway track, had been a bone of contention between the Railways and the State Archeological department. It also delayed commencement of the doubling project for a long time. The Railways was recently granted permission to shift the monument.
“The committee comprising representatives from the Railways, Archaeology department and the State government will take a decision on the method to be adopted in carrying out the relocation process,” Chief Administration Officer, South Western Railway, S Vijayakumaran told newspersons.
Dr G Aswathnarayan, Advisory Board Member (Technical) of the State Archeological department, said it was highly probable that the committee would decide to cut the lime-mortar bricks that adorn the armoury into pieces and reassemble them at the new location. “This can be done using the latest technology and is the best option at hand,” he said. It could work out to Rs 5.5 crore.
Elaborating on the other two options the committee looked into, he said the first plan to reconstruct the monument in its entirety was not acceptable due to the heritage value of the structure. The other proposal is that of moving the entire monument.
“This is done in US, China, Canada and Europe. It is very costly and demands a great deal of expertise which we do not possess,” Aswathnarayan said.