BEST seeks answers from Tata Motors, co points to contractor

After the third instance on Wednesday, the undertaking withdrew 400 buses from Mumbai. Sources said the batch withdrawn was of BS-6 grade. The charred bus was towed away on Thursday. BEST re-routed 297 buses from regular routes to fill the void, leading to commuters’ span of wait at bus stops increasing from 5-10 minutes to 10-15 minutes

Mumbai: After the recent mishaps at Santacruz, Chakala, and the latest at Agarkar Chowk, Andheri East, on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) met with officials from Tata Motors on Thursday at its headquarters, Electric House, in Colaba, seeking an explanation for the reason behind three non-AC CNG buses catching fire in the span of one month.

Mumbai, India - February 23, 2023: The AC BEST bus which was gutted in blaze on Wednesday being towed away. The BEST withdrew more than 400 CNG buses of Tata Motors after the incident, at Andheri, in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, February 23, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

After the third instance on Wednesday, the undertaking withdrew 400 buses from Mumbai. Sources said the batch withdrawn was of BS-6 grade. The charred bus was towed away on Thursday. BEST re-routed 297 buses from regular routes to fill the void, leading to commuters’ span of wait at bus stops increasing from 5-10 minutes to 10-15 minutes.

Through the day, the buses – operated on wet-lease by M/S Mateshwari Urban Transport Ltd – were parked in Majas, Santacruz, Dharavi and Prateeksha Nagar depots.

While Tata Motors pointed to the contractor purportedly failing its responsibility in the fleet’s upkeep, senior BEST officials said, that as “an original equipment manufacturer”, Tata Motors cannot pass the buck on the contractor, especially when the average age of the buses was between six and 18 months.

“A team of Tata Motors officials arrived from Lucknow and are re-examining these buses for compliance of safety standards and norms. The vehicles will be put to service only when the final examination is done, all clearances given and a written commitment and assurance issued by the company,” said the BEST official. The exercise of running all the checks will be complete in six to seven days. “Safety is our primary concern and we are trying to minimise the inconvenience to our commuters.”

In an email response to Hindustan Times’s query on the recent incidents, a spokesperson for Tata Motors said, “The recent thermal incident in the CNG buses is very unfortunate. These buses are owned, maintained and operated by M/S Mateshwari Ltd. under a separate commercial contract with BEST, without any involvement of Tata Motors.” It underscored that all the drivers and conductors were hired by the contractor. The company was unable to comment conclusively on the causes behind the incidents, as “there may be multiple reasons relating to maintenance, operations, etc”.

The company is coordinating with the transport body and M/s Mateshwari to investigate the incident. “We wish to make a proper diagnosis. Our team of experts has already begun working on this and we assure Mumbaikars of a speedy resolution.”

Sources at BEST have said that the wet-lease operator has also been questioned, besides which the transport body had replaced engines in 60 to 65 buses over the last few days. Though the primary cause of fire is a matter of investigation, sources said an issue with the engine led to the spark.

Recently, the undertaking had suspended another wet-lease operator who was running 260-odd buses. Thus, effectively in the last few weeks, the BEST fleet has dropped by over 650 buses, which includes the 400 buses taken off the roads on Wednesday evening. Of its fleet of 3270 buses close to 1300 are operated by contractors.