20230902 E-bus catches fire at Malvani depot, 2nd incident in 3 mths
India Sep 02 2023 “Automobile & Railway”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
E-bus catches fire at Malvani depot, 2nd incident in 3 mths
Updated: 2023-09-02
MUMBAI: In a second such incident at Malvani depot in three months, an electric AC bus caught fire during battery charging early on Friday. Nobody was injured as the fire was doused within half an hour. The fire incident, however, raised questions about the safety of BEST’s wet lease buses. On Thursday, the wheel of another BEST bus almost came off as the wheel bolt was broken near Thane check naka on LBS Marg (route A-494). The driver stopped the bus in time and prevented any untoward incident.
“We are probing both incidents as passenger safety is our priority,” said BEST general manager Vijay Singhal.
Sources said the bus that caught fire on Friday has completed over one lakh km-run in the last two years without any untoward incident. Tata Motors, the bus manufacturer, did not issue a statement on the fire incident.
In the fire incident, Singhal said he has asked Tata Motors to investigate whether it is a “manufacturing defect” or “charging problem” with the e-buses. “In both fire incidents at Malvani depot, on June 16 and September 1, the e-buses caught fire while charging,” Singhal said. “They [Tata] have already put a senior person on the job,” he said. The wet lease service and maintenance is being provided by another private contractor.
In case of the broken wheel-bolt incident, Singhal said it was a maintenance issue for which the contractor will be issued showcause notice and ap-propriate action will be taken.
According to Hussain Indorewala from the citizens’ forum, Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, the city’s wet lease bus service is marked by deteriorating quality, unreliability, and vulnerability, all of which seriously impact commuters.
Shashank Rao of the BEST workers’ union pointed out that in wet leasing contracts, BEST has no control on the contractor and on how he maintains or runs the buses, and this has led to the present “unwarranted” situation.
BEST employees’ union leader J M Kahar criticised BEST for “not having proper supervision” on daily operations and maintenance of contractual buses, while former BEST panel member Ravi Raja said BEST needs to be careful as this is the second fire incident involving e-buses in Mumbai.
Web Source: The Times of India