PANAJI/VASCO
Is there something drastically wrong with engines of Kadamba Transport Corporation’s buses? Within a month, a second KTC bus plying on the Panaji-Margao route caught fire on Sunday at Agassaim.
In August, a KTC bus, playing on Panaji-Vasco route, was gutted in flames at Bambolim near the Goa Medical College.
Sunday’s incident occurred at around 12.45 pm in front of the Agassaim police station. The driver, cleaner of the bus and police staff were however successful in putting out the fire of this air-conditioned bus before fire service personnel arrived.
No injuries were reported as all passengers vacated the bus soon after smoke started billowing from the driver’s cabin. Sources claim that the fire was due to a short circuit.
On August 24, a Kadamba bus plying from Panaji to Vasco caught fire at Bambolim. The bus was fully burnt in the incident. No one was hurt as all passengers got down from the bus before it was completely engulfed by the flames.
According to Agassaim PI Uday Gaude, in today’s incident there were around 15 passengers on board. “As the fire broke out, glasses and window panes started breaking due to the heat. However, no one was injured,” he said.
The incident caused a traffic jam in the area.
According to KTCL Chairman and Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida, the bus (GA-03 X-159) purchased under JNNURM scheme was eight years years old. “It caught fire due to explosion of ECU unit which controls the mechanism of the engine,” Almeida claimed.
He said locals helped the driver to extinguish the fire, but the front cabin was gutted.
Almeida said the body of the bus was safe. “An inquiry will be initiated by the management of KTCL into the incident and anyone responsible for the fire will be taken to task,” he stated.
