Fire in another low-floor; Tata Motors admits lapse

Another low-floor bus of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) caught fire on Thursday. This is the ninth such incident in the last 25 days.

Another low-floor bus of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) caught fire on Thursday. This is the ninth such incident in the last 25 days.The bus, plying on route number 165, caught fire on Shahdara flyover in east Delhi, at 3 pm on Thursday.

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The driver immediately stopped the bus and all passengers were evacuated. No one was injured in the incident.

DTC’s managing director Naresh Kumar said the incident of sparking occurred due to a short-circuit in the bus, leading to burning of wires. Though the wires around the engine got burnt, Kumar said the bus was not damaged.

DTC has suspended the manager of Rohini-I depot for allowing a faulty bus to ply. The corporation had directed all depot managers to closely monitor the fitness of the buses and only allow fully fit buses to ply.DTC has ordered a complete health check-up of all the low-floor buses by end of January 2010.

Tata Motors, which has manufactured these buses and is responsible for their maintenance, has been asked to improve maintenance of buses and rectify all the technical problems by January 31, 2010 or face strict action.

TATA Motors admits lapse Tata Motors has admitted that there is a problem with the braking system of the buses and that the frequency of check-ups of these buses is inadequate.

Ravi Pisharody, President, commercial vehicles business unit, said that all the buses that have got stalled or caught fire in the last month had traveled more than 1,00,000 km and required more frequent check ups.

“The frequency of check-ups of these buses has been inadequate and we need to reinforce the maintenance structure. There is no inherent design or manufacturing issue,” he said.

Out of the last eight incidents of DTC buses stalling or catching fire, four involved problems with the braking system. “There is a problem with the braking system,” Pisharody admitted. “We are investigating the incidents and are aware of the problem.”

“We will carry out a complete health check-up of all the 950 low-floor buses by January 31, 2010.” Tata Motors is going to deploy more manpower — 25 engineers and 240 technicians — at 10 depots to carry out the comprehensive check-ups.

The Delhi government had earlier imposed a fine of Rs 4 crore on Tata Motors for not properly maintaining the low-floor buses it manufactured. It had also decided to withhold a payment of Rs 150 crore to the Tatas and warned of legal action if corrective steps were not taken.