CAG pulls up railways over Kashmir rail link project delay
21 Dec 2012
The long delay and cost escalation in the Kashmir rail link project, one of the key works taken up by railways since independence has come in for criticism from government auditor CAG.
The project has been faulted for poor planning and due diligence before its execution.
The cost of the 29-km long Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line has escalated to Rs 19,565 crore as against Rs3,077 crore in 1999-2000.
"The single most important reason for delay and other related problems in execution of the project is poor planning," the CAG observed in its latest report tabled in parliament today.
In view of the difficult and unexplored terrain of the region, the CAG pointed out that the critical decision on selection of alignment should have been preceded by requisite field investigations to establish its workability.
According to the CAG, had the project authorities conducted due diligence during the initial stage including expert consultation, it would have been possible to minimise uncertainty on account of constructibility paving the way for smoother implementation.