The Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) of India has pulled up the railways for the long delay and escalation of costs in the Kashmir rail link project.

The national auditor slammed the railways, saying its poor planning execution of the project led to the delay and cost escalation.

In its report tabled in Parliament on Thursday, the CAG said, "The single most important reason for delay and other related problems in execution of the project is poor planning."

In 199-2000, the cost of the 29-kilometer Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail line project was estimated at Rs 3,077 crore, but due to long delay and poor planning the cost has soared to Rs 19,565 crore even as the project is still far from the finishing point.

The CAG said given the tricky and unexplored terrain of the region, the railways should have undertake requisite field investigation before taking a decision on selection of alignment to ascertain its workability. The report added that railways should also have conducted a detailed survey of Katra-Qazigund area, which is the most difficult terrain in the ongoing project.

This alignment passed through several thrust areas and fault lines in the Himalayan area, which makes the line susceptible to seismic disasters.

The report underlined that the railways had not drawn up the final location survey before commencing the project.