20221103 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation panel to probe fire in 2 Shivshahis on 2 days on the trot
India Nov 03 2022 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation panel to probe fire in 2 Shivshahis on 2 days on the trot
Updated: 2022-11-03
PUNE: The MSRTC constituted a three-member high-level committee on Wednesday to probe the back-to-back fire in its Shivshahi buses on two consecutive days in Nashik and at Yerawada in Pune.
On the either day, the alacrity of the buses’ drivers and conductors prevented loss of lives. A total of 43 passengers were travelling in the Nashik-Pune Shivshahi bus gutted in fire on Wednesday. A total 42 passengers were in the Amravati-Pune Shivshahi bus, which caught fire in Yerawada on Tuesday.
The back-to-back fire in the two buses and blaze in a semi-luxury bus (not Shivshahi) in Amravati on Tuesday have shaken up the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) authorities.
Shekhar Channe, the vice-chairman and managing director of the MSRTC, said probe into the incidents was underway.
Shekhar Channe, the vice-chairman and MD of the MSRTC told TOI: “Fire in MSRTC buses are happening after a long time. No such incident is supposed to occur. In both the cases on Tuesday, it appears that the engines might have developed a snag. We shall find out the exact causes and work accordingly.”
A section of MSRTC officials cited buses lying idle for a long period as the probable reason behind the incidents. “The buses did not ply during the Covid lockdown and the MSRTC staffers’ strike. If vehicles don’t operate for a long time, problems do arise. But the high-level committee comprising the heads of different departments would find out the exact cause of fire by the end of this week,” a senior MSRTC official said.
The state transport buses didn’t operate for around two months in 2020 because of the pandemic-induced lockdown. The operations resumed in May 2020 and continued till October 2021, when the MSRTC employees went on a strike. The agitation ended in April 2022.
The worried bus commuters slammed the transport utility for their excuse that Covid and the six-month staffers’ strike might be the reason behind these fires. “What makes the officials say so? All the buses are plying since May. Do officials want to say that maintenance of the buses was not done properly and is still not being done? Fire in buses is a serious issue and threatens our lives. It also creates doubts on the service,” Prashant Malakar, who travels between Pune and Mumbai frequently, said.
Another commuter said the state of Shivshahi buses was not good. “They are unclean and some of their front engines are popped up while tferrying commuters. They need proper care, which is not happening,” he said.
The MSRTC authorities claimed that the maintenance of buses was their primary focus. “The buses go through daily maintenance. Instructions have been issued to all the depots to be serious about it. Drivers have been told to examine the buses before starting the trips. The same instructions have gone to the private operators. More directives would be issued based on the committee’s report, which would be religiously followed,” another MSRTC official said.
Web Source: The Times of India