CAG Sanjay K Murthy (file photo)

New Delhi: Comptroller and Auditor General Sanjay K Murthy on Thursday said governance is the hindrance behind failed urban mobility in the country. It is not about wanting roads or rail but about wanting systems that work together.“The solutions are not unknown. London, Stockholm and Singapore have demonstrated that congestion pricing, combined with strong public transport, can reduce traffic by 20-30%. The knowledge is there. The technology is there. What, then, is the cultural barrier?” The CAG asked how come we build metro lines that do not connect to the bus network, we build flyovers that only move crowds.CAG was speaking at the inauguration of a two-day meeting of federal auditors of BRICS countries in Bengaluru, in which participating countries included China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. He said that if adequate capital expenditure fails to reduce the average commute time, it is not an infrastructure deficit that we are seeing, it is a failure of governance.“We are conducting a special audit of 101 Indian cities assessing ease of living from the citizens’ perspective based on quality of life, accessibility, sustainability and perception. And we are also auditing multi-modal transport and first-mile, last-mile logistics in partnership with institutions like IITs and IIMs and the World Bank,” the CAG shared its work with the audit heads of the BRICS countries.Murthy recalled a quote from former President APJ Abdul Kalam, “A vision without action is merely a dream and action without accountability is mere expenditure. Accountability is ours.” He said that auditors play an important role in providing useful information and inputs for effective administration.“In an age of ease of living, we must ask a deeper question: Does spending change lives? A city can build a hundred flyovers and still fail its citizens. A city can pass every compliance audit and still be very easy to live in,” he said.The Chief Auditor of India said that his institution provides value added products such as Departmental Appreciation Notes, Management Letters and Study Reports, which serve as real aids to the management and keep citizens and stakeholders meaningfully informed.