The CAG has held the Railway authorities responsible for the stampede at the Allahabad railway station during last year’s Maha Kumbh Mela in which 37 persons were killed.
“There was no Railway Disaster Management Plan for Kumbh Mela,” the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in its latest report tabled in Parliament on Friday.
According to the CAG report, during the Shahi Snan when the State Government expected about 3.05 crore pilgrims to visit the mela and 4.10 lakh passengers to utilise trains, a major stampede took place at platform No. 6 of Allahabad station that resulted in loss of 37 lives and injuries to 48.
The CAG, while reviewing the arrangements, observed the lack of proper coordination with the State administration by railways. “Railway administration failed to establish proper coordination with the State Government authorities for crowd management at station,” the 2012-13 fiscal report said.
The national transporter has also come in the scanner by the national auditor for “lack of financial discipline” and not following its own rules and regulations laid down in the financial code for execution of projects.
The report said, “It indicates a lack of financial discipline and increases risk of losses — both material and financial in implementation of projects. This assumes significant importance in view of the large number of projects under implementation in the Railways.”
The CAG also indicted the Ministry of incurring expenditure more than its agreed percentage of cost due to non-following of the terms and conditions of the agreements executed with the State Governments relating cost-sharing projects. It also noted that fund balances had declined from `15,654.48 crore in 2008-09 to `4,073.41 crore in 2012-13. During 2011-12, there was a loss of about `23,640 crore on passenger and other coaching services while freight services made a profit of `23,077 crore.