CAG Raps Kolkata Port for Dredging Deficiencies Leading to Losses Worth over Rs 270 Crore

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has rapped the Kolkata Port Trust, rechristened as the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, for its dredging deficiencies that may have resulted in a loss of Rs 278.61 crore during the 2013-2018 period. The CAG said it was seen that a quantum of 81.68 million cubic metre (MM3) was dredged during the period from 2013-14 to 2018-19, involving an expenditure of Rs 1,857.37crore.

“A quantum of 12.25 MM3 of dredged material happened to come back into the shipping channel”, considering a rate of 15 per cent recirculation, the auditor said. It increased “the cost by Rs 278.61 crore by KoPT,” the CAG said in a report submitted to the government recently.