BEST e-bus fire: 'Vehicle inspected, report sought from technical team'

A probe has begun into the BEST ebus fire incident near Churchgate railway station in south Mumbai a senior official said on FridayThe midi electric bus with registration number MH01 DR 1327 caught fire on Maharshi Karve Marg at 950 pm on Thursday when it was heading to J Mehta Marg on route 121 PTI reported No one was hurt as the passengers driver and conductor manage to alight in timeWe have undertaken technical inspection of the Tata Motors electric bus that was partially charred in the fire A detailed report has been sought from the technical team SVR Srinivas who is holding additional charge as the civicrun public transporters general manager told PTIThe upper portion of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transportrsquos BEST ebus including the windows was damaged by the time the fire brigade reached the site another official saidThe bus was brought to the Backbay depot following the incident and a technical team from BEST as well as representatives of Tata Motors inspected it the official informed according to PTIAs per the drivers statement the fire started from the battery section he addedThe BEST undertaking ferries around 30 lakh passengers every day with a fleet of more than 2800 buses the majority of which are hired on wet leaseIn the wetlease model private contractors provide drivers while taking care of bus maintenance and fuel expensesSecond instance of BEST ebus fire in four monthsIncidentally it is the second incident of fire on a wetleased BEST bus in less than four months Earlier an Olectra bus caught fire on Babasaheb Ambedkar Road at Byculla after it hit an underconstruction pillar in an attempt to save a biker on December 31 2024This was also the second fire incident involving a Tata Motors electric bus On June 16 2023 an electric bus from the firm caught fire at Malvani depot while being chargedThe BEST fleet includes 340 electric buses of both 9 metres and 12 metres of Tata Motors on wet leaseBEST needs huge financial support will meet Maharashtra CM Narayan RaneFormer Union minister Narayan Rane on Thursday expressed concern over the deteriorating financial condition of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST undertaking and said the organisation is entirely dependent on grants from the BMC reported news agency PTIHe said the undertaking needs 8000 buses in its fleetIt needs huge financial support Nearly 8000 new buses are required over and above the existing fleet There are some 750 buses and another 500 are on rent Some 1500 buses are going to be there but the requirement is 8000 Dues of Rs 78 crore for workers during the COVID19 period are still pending said Rane who added he has served as chairman of BEST and was also aware of rules that govern it reported PTIBEST will survive only if the state government provides financial assistance said Rane who visited the undertakings general manager SVR Srinivas during the dayThe meeting at the undertakings Colaba headquarters was held under the banner of Samarth BEST Kamgar Sanghatana a workers union backed by Rane A large number of union members were also present on the occasionI am trying to get an appointment with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the next 10 days I will meet him as a mediator between the union leaders BMC and BEST I hope Fadnavis and state finance minister Ajit Pawar will provide significant funds to BEST he addedWith PTI inputsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params