Jammu and Kashmir rail link faces CAG fire by irmafia on 22 December, 2012 - 12:00 AM | ||
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irmafia | Jammu and Kashmir rail link faces CAG fire on 22 December, 2012 - 12:00 AM | |
After endless delay, the first train between Udhampur and Katra section of Jammu and Kashmir could roll out by October next year.Once operational, the line, which is part of the Kashmir Rail Link Project, is likely to benefit millions of pilgrims to Vaishno Devi.Currently, it runs in one section of the stretch covering five stations in the Kashmir Valley. However, even before the operation can commence on the stretch, the project has invited the wrath of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for the long delay which has seen the cost escalating by almost five times.The CAG has attributed this loss of time, money and manpower to "poor planning and due diligence before its execution".The CAG report, which was tabled in Parliament on Thursday, noted that the 292km-long Udhampur-Srinagar- Baramulla railway line's originally estimated cost of Rs 3,077 crore in 1999- 2000 has escalated to Rs 19,565 crore and the project is still not complete.The entire stretch is now expected to be completed in 2017. The report noted that the poor selection of alignment, which has been cited as one of the major reasons for causing the delay, "could have been avoided"."Considering the difficult and unexplored terrain of the region, the critical decision on selection of alignment should have been preceded by requisite field investigations to establish its workability," the CAG report observed.Such poor planning and the inadequacy of project estimates heavily contributed to time and cost overruns, as well as major changes in the scope of work as field investigations were taken up during construction, it noted. |