CAG flags shortage of drinking water, fans, toilets at New Delhi, Mumbai, Howrah, other key stations
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has highlighted significant shortcomings in essential passenger facilities at major Indian railway stations like New Delhi, Mumbai, Howrah, and Sealdah. In its 2023-24 report, the CAG examined passenger amenities and sanitation at non-suburban stations across the country and found alarming deficiencies.
At non-suburban Group-1 (NSG-1) category stations—those earning over Rs 500 crore annually or handling more than 20 million passengers—only 54 out of 512 surveyed stations (less than 11%) met the minimum essential requirements. A staggering 458 stations, or over 89%, fell short in providing these basic amenities. The audit found critical gaps in drinking water taps (12 stations), seating arrangements (4 stations), urinals (4 stations), latrines (2 stations), fans (8 stations), water coolers (8 stations), electronic train indicator boards (1 station), and signage (5 stations).
Major terminals such as CSMT, Howrah, Sealdah, New Delhi, and Mumbai Central exhibited the most pronounced deficiencies, indicating systemic issues in maintaining fundamental passenger services at premier railway hubs.
Written by urgent.news from The Indian Express's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
