Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the government will pursue the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report concerning Dimapur-Kohima rail link project cost escalation.
DIMAPUR — Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio has said the state government will pursue the findings of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concerning cost escalation in the Dimapur-Kohima rail link project being implemented by the Northeast Frontier Railway.
Rio was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a national seminar on the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873, organised by the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) at Town Hall in Dimapur, on Saturday.
When asked about the shortcomings in the ambitious railway project pointed out by the PAC, he said the firm from outside the State, which is undertaking the project, might not be fully familiar with Nagaland’s geological conditions.
He, however, said the government was aware of the situation and would pursue the matter.
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In its report presented in the Parliament earlier this month, the PAC had stated that the Dimapur-Kohima rail link project cost had increased by more than sevenfold, from INR 850 crore during sanction in 2006-07 to INR 6,663.20 crore by May 2022, while physical progress remained below 25 per cent as of March 2022.
The report also highlighted a series of shortcomings including inadequate initial surveys, rushed land acquisition, designs not backed by cost-benefit analysis, poor contract oversight and insufficient accountability, that are encountered during large railway infrastructure projects in geographically complex regions.
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