Mumbai: BEST takes 400 leased buses off roads after three CNG buses catch fire in one month

Photo/Swara Purohit Achrekar

Following a fire in a bus at Andheri east station on Wednesday evening, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply And Transport undertaking decided to take 400 Tata CNG buses from the fleet off the roads till the operator and manufacturer came up with necessary corrective measures to ensure complete public safety. Though it will lead to public inconvenience with fewer services and changes in some bus schedules, BEST officials it was necessary to do so for safety.

A non-AC single decker bus on route 415 operated by Mateshwari Ltd reached its destination at Andheri station and the entire crowd got off and caught fire after sometime around 6:55pm. The bus was completely gutted in the fire. There were no injuries, but there have been cases of these buses catching fire.

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"In view of recent incidents of fire in Tata CNG buses operated by Mateshwari Ltd, the BEST undertaking has decided to take all these 400 buses off road till the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and operator take necessary corrective measures to ensure that such incidents will not happen in the future. Though it may cause inconvenience to commuters, public safety being of utmost importance, the undertaking cannot compromise on it. There may be some changes in the schedules due to this and commuters are requested to keep this in mind while planning their journey for next few days," a BEST spokesperson said.