CAG raps Delhi Metro; says govt delayed report

After facing flak over recent accidents claiming six lives, Delhi Metro has come under attack from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which raised questions on its accountability and blamed the government for "deliberately" delaying tabling of the report in Parliament.

The CAG report for 2007 also accused the Metro of compromising quality control procedures on the request of contractors and found that testing requirements were scaled down in four contracts as the projects were behind schedule.

"Audit analysis of quality control indicated scaling down of testing requirements, non-witnessing of tests by the company's representatives, testing of material in non- accredited laboratories and non-preservation of test reports.

Testing requirements were scaled down in four contracts as these contracts were running behind the schedule, the report said adding that the company representatives were not present at tests conducted by contractors.

Deputy CAG A N Chaterjee said, "In order to hasten projects, quality control procedures were relaxed deliberately at the request of contractors."

"If these reports have been presented before Parliament in time, it would have been better as some of which have clear and direct linkage of what we are witnessing today," Chaterjee told reporters in a veiled reference to Sunday's mishap in Jamrudpur.

He also said the government "deliberately delayed the tabling on one pretext or other" after the auditor submitted it to government.