CAG Raps Railways for Operational & Financial Lapses in Projects

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CAG Report Reveals Lapses in Mumbai Suburban Project Execution

By TRH News Desk

New Delhi, April 3: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on Railways tabled in parliament on Thursday revealed serious inefficiencies in planning, execution, and resource management, leading to cost overruns and project delays.

A recent audit of two key railway projects — the Carriage Repair Workshop in Mancheswar (CRW/MCS) and the construction of the 5th and 6th lines between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Kurla Station —uncovered serious inefficiencies in planning, execution, and resource management, leading to cost overruns and project delays.

Carriage Repair Workshop (CRW/MCS) Performance Issues

“The Carriage Repair Workshop in Mancheswar, established in 1981 under the East Coast Railway (ECoR), has been struggling to meet its projected maintenance targets despite multiple capacity enhancements,” said the CAG in its report.

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Initially designed to handle 45 coaches per month, its capacity was gradually increased to 150 coaches per month by 2016. “However, the actual outturn has remained significantly lower, ranging between 86 and 113 coaches per month from 2016-17 to 2022-23,” added the CAG in its report.

Key Audit Findings:

Delays in Coach Repairs: The prescribed Periodical Overhaul (POH) cycle for railway coaches is 15 to 20 days, but the workshop has taken up to three years in some cases.
Idle Coaches: At one point, 191 coaches remained idle for 10 to 171 days, accumulating 6,558 idle coach-days.
Post-Overhaul Failures: A significant number of overhauled coaches (131 out of 3,402 between 2020-23) failed within 100 days of POH, raising concerns about quality control.
Budgeting and Overspending: The workshop understated its actual POH capacity in reports to the Railway Board, leading to excessive budgeting and an additional ₹181.78 crore spent on capacity augmentation without a proper assessment of infrastructure compatibility.
Machine and Material Shortages: Four high-value machines worth ₹4.15 crore have been lying idle due to defects, while shortages in stock procurement have disrupted repair schedules.
Monitoring Failures: The Workshop Information System (WISE), meant for tracking maintenance work, had data mismatches with manual records, reducing its effectiveness.

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The construction of additional railway lines between CSMT and Kurla, a critical infrastructure project aimed at decongesting Mumbai’s suburban railway network, has suffered from poor planning, land acquisition issues, and coordination failures, said the CAG in its report.

Audit Highlights:

Delayed Approvals: The Detailed Estimate prepared by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) was not properly justified, leading to a delay in sanctioning by the Railway Board (RB).
Unfinished Socio-Economic Survey: The Baseline Socio-Economic (BSE) survey for Phase I, initiated in 2012, remains incomplete even after 11 years.
Project-Affected Persons (PAPs) Not Rehabilitated: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) failed to complete rehabilitation units at Kilburn, Nahur, delaying land acquisition.
Excess Land Assessment: Ignoring Railway Board’s directives to minimize land acquisition, the project overestimated land requirements, causing unnecessary delays.
Lack of Coordination: A land transfer request from Western Railway (WR) to Central Railway (CR), submitted in 2015, is still pending as of January 2024.
Infrastructure and Procurement Challenges: Contracts were awarded before finalizing designs, securing land, or ensuring site readiness, leading to idling of electrical and signaling materials.
Project Delays and Cost Overruns: Initially scheduled for completion in March 2021, the project has been extended to March 2024, and further delays are expected. Despite spending ₹500.93 crore (56.22% of the budget), only 26% of the work is physically completed.Join the WhatsApp Channel of The Raisina HillsFollow on Google News https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMNK2vwsw39HWAw?hl=en-IN&gl=IN&ceid=IN%3Aen