BEST withdraws 400 buses after third CNG bus catches fire

Regular BEST bus commuters are likely to face a harrowing time, as the transport service on Wednesday evening decided to withdraw 400 buses from the Mumbai roads after yet another CNG bus caught fire. This was the third such incident in one month

Mumbai: Regular BEST bus commuters are likely to face a harrowing time, as the transport service on Wednesday evening decided to withdraw 400 buses from the Mumbai roads after yet another CNG bus caught fire. This was the third such incident in one month.

Mumbai, India - February 22, 2023: AC BEST bus seen completely gutted after it catches fire near Andheri railway station, at Andheri (East), in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The bus, running on route number 415, caught fire after reaching Agarkar Chowk outside Andheri (E) railway station at 6.55 pm. Although the bus was very crowded, the fire happened soon after all the passengers had alighted. While investigations are underway, officials said the probable reason for the fire was a spark in the engine.

In a tweet, BEST said that in view of the recent incidents of fire in TATA CNG buses, operated by M/S Mateshwari Urban Transport Ltd, it had decided to take the entire fleet of 400 buses off the road till the manufacturer and operator took corrective measures to ensure that such incidents did not happen again. Tata Motors did not respond to the email sent by Hindustan Times on Wednesday evening.

Until Wednesday evening, BEST, which has over 35 lakh commuters, was running 3,270 buses every day, of which close to 1,300 are operated on a wet lease. Recently, the undertaking 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.

“We want safety first,” emphasised Lokesh Chandra, general manager, BEST. “Some internal changes will be made to ensure that there is not much interruption on the heavy routes during peak hours.” A BEST official added that the undertaking had yet to ascertain which routes would be severely impacted by the withdrawal of the 400 buses. “However, our smaller buses to railway stations will continue, and so connectivity will remain,” he said.

Sources said the buses ply mainly in the western suburbs, connecting different routes between Andheri and Dahisar. They connect important residential localities on the eastern side of the Western Express Highway, Link Road and SV Road on its western side. They also connect railway stations as well as Metro lines 2A and 7.

The first incident of fire occurred on January 25 with a CNG bus on the C-51 route. After leaving Santacruz Depot and on the way to Bandra, at 1.15 pm, the driver noticed a spark in the gear box, which was possibly due to a short circuit. The bus was completely charred. The second incident was on February 11 at Chakala junction on the Western Express Highway. The incident occurred around 3.15 pm, and no one was injured.

While investigations are underway, preliminary observations in all three incidents have said that a spark in the engine was likely the cause of the fire.