The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) compliance audit report on Ministry of Railways was tabled in both houses of Parliament on Thursday (April 3, 2025).
| Photo Credit: ASHOK R
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) compliance audit report on Ministry of Railways was tabled in both houses of Parliament on Thursday (April 3, 2025).
The report made critical observations on the working of Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop in East Coast Railway and construction of the fifth and sixth line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Kurla station covering up to Financial Year (FY) 2022-23.
During 2008 to 2016, augmentation of the workshop was carried out to enhance the outturn capacity to 150 coaches per month. “As against the outturn capacity of 150 coaches per month, the outturn of the workshop during the period from 2016-17 to 2022-23 ranged between 86 and 113 coaches per month,” the audit reasoned.
The audit further observed that the projections for coaches due for periodic overhaul (POH) were not realistic and had undergone downward revision every year. Besides, the delay in sending coaches for POH by the depots, the time taken by the workshop in carrying out POH of coaches was up to three years as against the prescribed cycle of 15 to 20 days days. Audit also observed that the maximum instances of delays were in the Coach Body Repair Shop. 191 coaches were idle for a period ranging from 10 days to 171 days involving 6,558 idle coach-days and in 43 instances, the coaches were idle for more than 50 days.
The audit observed that the number of coaches that failed within 100 days of POH during 2018-19 and 2019-20 was 103 and 139, respectively. “Out of 3,402 coaches overhauled during 2020-23, 131 coaches failed within 100 days of POH,” the audit stated.
The POH capacity of the workshop was understated while reporting to Railway Board. Despite enhancement of its POH capacity to 150 coaches per month in 2016, further capacity augmentation works worth ₹181.78 crore was taken up between 2018-19 and 2022-23 without assessing the compatibility of existing infrastructure and a realistic requirement in future.
The report noted that four high-value machines worth ₹4.15 crore had been lying idle for years due to inherent defects of the machines. Shortfall in procurement of material had resulted in shortage of stocks and the user units repeatedly complained about non-availability of materials.
With regards to the construction of a fifth and sixth line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Kurla Station, the Railway Board’s instructions were not followed by Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES), which led to an improper detailed estimate prepared by the company resulting in delay of sanction by the board.
In June 2008, the Railway Board had asked for provision of housing to be kept to a bare minimum level only just to meet the functional requirements. The audit observed that Baseline Socio-Economic (BSE) survey for Phase-I work was not completed even after lapse of more than 11 years from September 2012. Further, Project Affected Persons (PAPs) were not rehabilitated as on January 2024 as Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) could not complete the construction work of units at Kilburn, Nahur. This led to delay in getting possession of land.
Further, instances of lack of co-ordination between RITES and state government agencies were noticed. These contributed in delay in BSE survey and land acquisition. Land acquisition process for Phase two work from Parel to CSMT was still at the initial stage.
“Contracts for construction were awarded without approved designs and drawings, clear sites, etc. which led to delay in completion of work. There were instances of idling of electrical and Signal and Telecommunications (S&T) materials due to award of contracts without ensuring availability of clear sites,” the audit states.
There was lack of coordination between Zonal Railways, as the proposal for transfer of land from Western Railway (WR) to Central Railway (CR) was forwarded by CR to WR in December 2015, but transfer of land by WR has not been done till date as on January 2024.
The audit report observed that the above factors contributed to the extension of the scheduled date of completion of the project from March 2021 to March 2024. Despite expenditure of ₹500.93 crore (56.22%) as on January 2024 made against the sanctioned estimate of 890.89 crore in September 2014, only 26% of the work was physically completed as on January 2024 indicating that the target date of completion of project would be further extended.
Published – April 04, 2025 06:07 am IST