Fire broke out in the TSRTC’s Warangal – 1 depot in Hanamkonda in Warangal Urban district in wee hours of Thursday in which five buses caught fire. No loss of life was reported in the incident.
Warangal Regional Manager T. Surya Kiran said the fire started in the Rajdhani AC bus which broke down about a month back and was getting ready to be taken to the workshop for repairs. Fire spread to two express buses and two Palle Velugu buses which were parked near it. Few other buses were also partially burnt.
The workers in the depot noticed fire in the Rajdhani bus and alerted the fire station which is just 500 meters away from the depot.
The fire-fighters put off the fire before it reached the diesel tank or the tyres of the buses. Had the diesel tanks caught fire, the damage could have been more. Officials say fire could have started due to short-circuit.
RTC chairman Somarapu Satayanarayana visited the spot. Transport Minister P Mahender Reddy visited the depot on Thursday evening and took stock of the situation. He inspected the buses which were damaged in the incident. He instructed the RTC officials to conduct an enquiry and ascertain the cause of the accident. He said the TSRTC has incurred a loss of ₹ 20 lakh due to the fire.
TSRTC in-charge MD Sunil Sharma said they would ask a team of experts from NIT Warangal to inspect the bus and deduce the cause of fire. If there are any faults in the design of the bus, they would be rectified. He said there are no CCTV cameras in the depot.