As the activities on Ram Janmabhoomi premises have increased with various expert teams visiting the site for soil evaluation and other tests, a team of IIT Madras recently came to Ayodhya and took samples of soil and concrete for testing as Ram temple construction is likely to commence full throttle from October 15.
As per the Shree Ram Janmbhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust sources, the IIT Madras team had reached the temple town late last week and after finishing their work of sample collection, they left around three days ago. The Larsen & Toubro, the firm which has taken upon the responsibility of temple construction, is in contact with experts from the civil engineering department of IIT Madras. "In all, a team of around 200 experts both of L&T and IIT Madras are working on the project," said a source close to the Trust.
In all probability, the sample collection, evaluation and piling work on the site would be completed till October 15, said the source. Under the piling exercise, four or five pillars would be filled with concrete and left for around 25 days to get it settled. After this, there would be a weight test to check if the pillars, thus constructed with the filling of concrete, were sturdy enough to bear the weight of the entire temple.
It is pertinent to mention here that the temple will rest on 1,200 pillars, every 200 feet deep into the ground. The soil testing a piling exercise is essential to make the temple structure strong enough to withstand the earthquakes and vagaries of nature for over a thousand years. Other than IIT Madras, the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) in Roorkee has also been approached from expert help. The estimated time to complete the temple is 39 months. By this estimate, the temple should be ready by January 2023.
