Bengaluru: Irregularities, cost overrun exposed in RTI reply of Byappanahalli railway terminal

Bengaluru: The yet to be inaugurated Byappanahalli railway terminal hit a snag after an RTI application has exposed flaws and reasons for cost escalation. However, an inquiry that was held acquitted any malpractice on behalf of the senior officers who were in charge.

The third coaching terminal (Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal at Byappanahalli) was sanctioned in 2015-16 and was to be completed in 2019, but was ready only in March 2021. The delay was due to a technical flaw detected in 2019.

South Western railway said an inquiry was conducted as a response to an RTI application filed by Vinoth Ranganathan of Onlinerti.com. The inquiry was overseen by a four-member Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) committee led by then additional general manager (SWR) BB Singh.

The RTI reply stated the inquiry committee was formed “to find our mismatch in Engineering Scale Plans (ESP)/Signal Interlocking Plan (SIP) to the ground situation and reasons for the delay in commissioning and track laying at variance to ESP.”

The committee found that work execution was taken up without measuring and verifying the availability of space shown in RSP.

It stated, “Approved ESP does not correspond to the ground situation as the distance available from pit line catwalk (concrete deck) to bulb line takeoff is less by 69m than what is shown in ESP, which led to avoidable sharp curvature.”

Catwalks on either side of the pit line help workers get into coaches for maintenance and cleaning. Bulbline is us f to turn the engine or train position to the opposite direction.

2 of 7 employees penalised

The RTI reply stated that disciplinary action against seven SWR employees was initiated for the lapses. Of the seven, only two were “partly responsible” and “penalty was imposed”.

However, the penalised amount was not specified in the reply. Of the remaining five employees, three were found to be “not responsible”.

An inquiry against the other two is being conducted. Sources said action was taken against junior officers and engineers mainly while some seniors were even promoted.

Regarding the financial loss, the RTI replied, “There was a need for revision of plan besides the issue of length of land… Revision was also necessary to plan additional traffic facilities, and a future hard remodeling was avoided, which would have been costlier. As such it was unavoidable expenditure.”

13 reasons for project cost escalation

The project cost increased from Rs. 116 crore (detailed estimate) to Rs. 262.6 crore (revised estimate) as stated in the reply of RTI. SWR had spent Rs. 201.3 crore till March 31, 2021.

However, Rs. 314 crore has been estimated as the total project cost recently.

SWR cited 13 reasons when asked about the cost increase, including an increase in length of track from 19.7km to 23.5km and provision of a grand canopy over the main station building with centralised air conditioning system, among others.