CAG uncovers gaps in railways' safety

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) today rapped the railways management for under-utilisation of the funds allocation meant for road safety works, under-utilisation of the funds allotted towards road safety works and use of old locomotives on tracks as also for not undertaking safety drives.

According to the CAG report tabled in parliament today, there were huge gaps between the railways' commitment and execution of safety-related projects. This includes the upgrade and modernisation of training centres meant to boost the competencies of maintenance personnel.

The reported pointed out that there are currently 86,108 vacancies in safety category posts, which presents a safety risk in railway operations.

According to deputy CAG Narendra Singh, the Indian railways has not been able to fulfill the target envisaged under the Corporate Safety Plan (CSP). He added that this left a lot to be desired.

''Indian Railways has not been able to fulfill its target envisaged under the Corporate Safety Plan (CSP). It leaves a lot to be desired,'' said deputy CAG Narendra Singh.

The audit, carried out by the CAG on the performance of the railways in the first phase of CSP between 2003 and 2008, shows that more than 50 per cent of the Rs 4,600 crore allocated for road safety works have remained unutilised.

Besides, there were questions about overloading wagons operated on the network. According to the report, in the period under consideration 20 per cent of wagons run on the railways were overloaded and these were running even after detection of overload which endangered track condition.