20230408 TSRTC e-bus catches fire at Begumpet
India Apr 08 2023 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
TSRTC e-bus catches fire at Begumpet
Updated: 2023-04-08
HYDERABAD: A TSRTC electric bus caught fire after its overhead battery unit scraped the side of the Begumpet-Paradise flyover beam, while crossing the stretch, early on Friday.
Though no one was hurt, the incident briefly created panic in the area, as it was ferrying passengers from the Hyderabad airport to the Jubilee bus station (JBS) when fire broke out.
The passengers were immediately evacuated and fire tenders pressed into service to douse the flames.
Preliminary findings indicate that the bus, which was plying very close to the flyover, hit it on the edge. That damaged the battery – it is fixed at the top of the vehicle – and caused it to malfunction. This is the second e-bus from the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation fleet to catch fire in the last one year. The previous case was reported in 2022, when the bus was being charged.
“In Friday’s incident, the bus driver first heard a sound of the beam hitting the flyover and soon afterwards saw fire emitting from the battery. He immediately stopped and had the bus vacated,” said a senior TSRTC official.
He added: “On physical examination we realised that the roof of many heavy vehicles was getting hit, while driving past this flyover.”
He said that the department will once again measure the height of the buses (3.34 metres) and the height of the area underneath the flyover, as part of its investigation in the matter.
The team from Olectra, that operators these AC e-buses, also rushed to the spot to assess the reasons.
Apart from the position of the batteries – this current batch of 39 air-conditioned buses are fitted with two batteries on the top and four in the rear – the relaying of tar roads is another concern facing these tall vehicles. “In many cases, the previous layers are not removed before laying a fresh road. This is done repeatedly, which increases the height of the road and poses a threat for such incidents,” the senior TSRTC official explained adding, “Based on further findings we will take a call on whether these buses need any modifications. This is the first time this happened in four years. One reason is also that the bus was driving on the right side of the road under the flyover and not on the left, like all heavy vehicles usually should…All the new buses arriving in the coming months have batteries underneath them, so this problem is unlikely to occur.”
It is learnt that a similar issue with batteries fixed on top of e- bus were reported in Bengaluru prompting them to re-fix them behind the bus.
Web Source: The Times of India