Electric bus catches fire at Nonapukur tram depot

Kolkata: An electric bus owned by West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) caught fire while it was parked at Nonapukur tram depot early on Tuesday morning.

One fire tender was pressed into service to douse the flames. The fire was doused within half an hour. No one was injured in the incident.

According to sources, the electric bus was about to leave the Nonapukur tram depot after a check around 5:55 am on Tuesday.

When the driver of the bus started the engine, the employees of the depot saw smoke coming out of the Air Condition (AC) panel located on the roof of the bus.

They alerted the driver and the bus was stopped and the driver moved away from the driving seat.

Immediately after the smoke was seen, fire brigade was informed. One fire tender reached the spot and doused the flames.

But when the fire tender reached the depot, the AC panel was completely damaged and a part of engine was also damaged. Firefighters suspect that a short circuit in the battery box lead to the incident.

The bus was about to leave for Exide when smoke started billowing out. This is first time fire broke out at an electric bus," said an official of Nonapukur tram depot.

At present, 80 such electric buses are plying in the city. Approximately six months ago electric buses were inducted by WBTC. Sources informed that following the Tuesday incident, Transport department officials are mulling to check each of electric bus thoroughly to ensure that there were no faults in the buses that are plying in the city.