A coffee planter at Ballupete in Sakleshpur taluk was disappointed when a portion of his land, where his house stood, was acquired for National Highway 75 (Bengaluru-Mangaluru) widening project. H.K. Lokesh, the planter, had built the 40 sq. ft house by spending ₹80 lakh. He was worried about building another house.
However, an engineering company based in Haryana came to his rescue. His house is now being moved 120 ft. away from its earlier place so that he need not take the burden of building one more.
A team of 15 workers have been working on the project since January this year. Now it is on the verge of completion. “The work would have been completed by now. During the lockdown the work hampered”, said Lokesh.
He got the idea of shifting the house after he came across a newspaper report about shifting a house in Mandya district. Lokesh’s son, Udeesh, a software engineer in Bengaluru, got in touch with TDBD Engineering Works Ltd. of Haryana, who had executed the work in Mandya. The company has lifted and shifted many structures across the country.
The house owner signed an agreement with the company to shift the house. The company has assured 20-year guarantee to the structure, which would be shifted at a cost of around ₹35 lakh. “I am happy with the work. Otherwise, I would have to spend a lot more money to rebuild the house”, said Lokesh.
The engineers study the structure and its strength before taking up the lifting work. The actual work begins with clearing the topsoil around the building. The surface is dug up until the foundation is reached. Later, the foundation is separated from the walls and pillars. The whole structure will be made to stand on steel jacks. With the help of these jacks, the house is relocated using railway sleepers. “It is a slow and tedious process. Every day the house moves a few inches. The team did not use any heavy earthmovers for the job. They manually operate the jacks and move the house”, said Lokesh.
The work is expected to be completed soon. The owner has to spend on the flooring once the work is done. The owner is utilising the fund he got as a compensation for the land he parted with.
