Tata team arrives for inspection after BEST took 400 CNG buses off road

BEST on Thursday said nearly 400 CNG-run buses which were taken off roads after 3 recent incidents of fire will be back in service only after a written assurance of safety is received from Tata Motors

Mumbai's civic transport body BEST on Thursday said the nearly 400 CNG-run buses which were taken off roads after three recent incidents of fire will be back in service only after a written assurance of safety is received from manufacturer Tata Motors.

A team of TATA Motors Engineering arrived in the city from Lucknow on Thursday and is re-examining all these buses for compliance of safety standards, BEST said in a statement.

Once they complete examination of safety parameters and give necessary clearance and written commitment and assurance of safety norms compliance, these buses will be put to service, it said, adding that the exercise is likely to be completed in six or seven days.

On Wednesday evening, BEST undertaking announced taking 400 leased buses of M/S Mateshwari Limited off roads after a third incident of a CNG bus catching fire within one month.

The 400 leased CNG buses of Mateshwari operate on around 40 routes, BEST sources said. Commuters faced a lot of inconvenience as the frequency of buses on these routes was severely affected.

As a large number of buses went off roads, the number of buses in the BEST fleet came down to around 2,700 from around 3,100, sources said.