Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking’s report of the incident in which one of its buses caught fire in Goregaon on May 3 elicited objections from members of the BEST committee on Wednesday. They were not satisfied with the reasons cited for the fire. The report said the fire had erupted due to leakage in the compressed natural gas (CNG) tank, after which the driver stopped the bus at the Gokuldham bus stop and suddenly the bus had burst into flames.
Anil Kokil, a BEST committee member, said, “There should be a device which can alert the driver to gas leakage. The report is factually inaccurate, the administration is just covering up its mistake.” Kokil was bemused by the report stating that the fire could have occurred possibly due to a lit cigarette, fruit vendor, hot silencer muffler or a mobile phone.
Engineers from the BEST transport engineers’ department had inspected the vehicle and found that the entire body of the bus, including the front tyres, were burnt. The battery, wires, and radiator cooler too were destroyed, as was the high-pressure CNG gauge. However, the report said, the CNG cylinders, gas pipeline, rupture disc and mounting brackets were unaffected by the fire. Gas leaked from the cylinder and traces were detected under the chassis, according to the report.
Sunil Ganacharya, another BEST committee member said, “Buses should be checked periodically and a there should be a technician whose only job should be to check buses before they leave the depot. The driver and conductor were unaware of the fire but they heard a sound, after which the driver told the conductor to get down and check for a burst tyre. When the conductor alighted, he saw flames and shouted at everyone in the bus to get down.” Later, Anil Patankar, the BEST committee chairman, suggested that the administration file another report as this one did not seem to be accurate.
