A Parliamentary Committee has expressed serious concern over the execution of Kashmir Rail project resulting in losses of more than Rs3,200 crore due to factors like bad planning, inadequate surveys and delayed decisions by Railways.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in its latest report noted with displeasure that the general planning failure on the part of Railways has contributed to a loss of Rs3,258.92 crore as on 2010. On the delay in project execution and cost escalation, the 22-member committee headed by KV Thomas noted that the initial project was estimated at Rs1,500 crore in 1994-95 which was revised to Rs3,077.23 crore in 1989 and further revised to Rs9,341.44 crore in 2010. As of September, 2013, the estimate is Rs20,000 crore based on the rates of 2010.
The PAC report tabled in the lok Sabha suggested that effective advance measures should be taken in cost estimation of similar challenging projects in future. On the delay, it noted that Railways decided in July 2008 to suspend the work in some sections until a final decision on alignment was taken.
The panel has also found serious lapses in Railways’ pollution control measures and observed that railways has not issued any comprehensive guidelines for transporting pollution-intensive commodities like coal, iron ore, cement, fertiliser and petroleum.