Spot barricaded; Repair works of fort wall measuring about 20 mts begin
Mysore/Mysuru: Following continuous heavy rains in city, a portion of the Mysore Palace fort wall towards the left side of Kote Maramma Temple and near to the Varaha Gate of the Palace has collapsed late last night.
This portion of the fort wall was dilapidated and had developed cracks. A month back, a total of 55 mts weak fort wall was identified to be repaired at a cost of Rs. 39.06 lakh and tender was also called to take up repair works.
The tender was also awarded to one Chandrashekar, who was to take up repair works last month itself but due to Dasara festivities the repair works could not be taken up.
Cannon firing exercise was shifted to other venue: As many portions of the fort wall had developed cracks, the cannon firing exercise, which was being held at the parking lot near Varaha Gate and close to Kote Maramma Temple to acclimatise Dasara elephants to the booming sounds of cannons, was also shifted to the parking lot at Dasara Exhibition Grounds on M.G. Road as the vibrations made from the booming sound of cannons could further damage the fort wall.
This morning, Palace Engineer Vinod inspected the collapsed portion of the fort wall measuring about 20 mts.
He said that the materials that were used to construct the fort wall earlier will be used to repair the damaged fort wall and the works have begun this morning.
Meanwhile, Mysore Palace Board Deputy Director T.S. Subramanya, speaking to Star of Mysore, attributed the wall collapse for three reasons: The fort wall is over 100 years old; Continuous heavy rains and vibrations caused due to cannon firing exercise.
He said that tenders to take up repair works of weak and dilapidated portions of the fort wall was called a month back and anticipating further damage, cannon firing drill was also shifted to the parking lot at Dasara Exhibition Grounds. But due to continuous rains in recent days, the portion of the fort wall dilapidated further and collapsed.
Subramanya said that the spot, where the portion of the fort wall collapsed, has been covered this morning and public has been cautioned not to venture close to the collapsed portion. The contractor has been instructed to take up the repair works from today itself, he added.
This post was published on October 18, 2022 6:41 pm