CAG to Conduct Urban Mobility Audit in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack

India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) announced plans to undertake a Citizen-Centric Compliance Audit on Urban Mobility, scheduled for 2026–27. This aims covering 101 cities across the country, and Odisha’s Bhubaneswar and Cuttack made the list.

To mark the commencement of this initiative, officials held an Entry Conference at Kharabela Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, up on the third floor. Usha Padhee, Additional Chief Secretary from the Housing & Urban Development Department, led the meeting. The audit team showed up in force: Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), Subu R, Deputy Accountant General Balakrishna, and their core team.

During the conference, the CAG team laid out their plans. They went through their key audit criteria, the legal and policy frameworks driving the process, local urban transport systems, service areas they’ll focus on, how they’ll run the audit, and the timeline. To keep things moving smoothly, they asked the Housing & Urban Development Department to pick a nodal officer and urged all involved departments and agencies to get on board.

Usha Padhee, speaking directly to the team, promised full cooperation from the state government. She told all departmental officers and stakeholder agencies to be transparent and open about their operational issues and field-level challenges.

The meeting wrapped up with a deep dive into how the audit’s going to unfold and when things will happen. It brought together plenty of top officials and local leaders: Director of Municipal Administration Arindam Dakua, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Commissioner Chanchal Rana, and senior officers from Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Cuttack Development Authority, Capital Region Urban Transport, Smart City Limited, Commerce & Transport Department, State Transport Authority, Odisha State Pollution Control Board, and the Home Department.