TimesView Frequent bus fires and brakes failure pose threat to the lives of thousands of commuters travelling in Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) vehicles. The PMPML authorities should immediately pull up their socks and focus on maintaining their fleet properly. If required, they should hire professionals for bus maintenance or even outsource the job to ensure safety of passengers. PUNE: Around 50 people on board a Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited bus had a narrow escape on Tuesday morning after its brakes failed at Narhe Ambegaon , leaving a passenger injured “The bus was on its way from Narhe to Shaniwarwada. The vehicle was on its second trip when its brakes failed around 9.50am. An investigation has been ordered and we shall know the specifics only after the report comes. We know that the bus belonged to the Swargate depot,” an official of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) told TOI.“As the bus moved along, its driver realized that the vehicle’s brakes were not working. Though we are yet to get more information, it seems that the handbrake of the bus was not working. The driver, in a bid to stop the bus from getting out of control, dashed it against a heap of construction material on the roadside. One person suffered minor injuries,” PMPML public relations officer Subhash Gaikwad said.Another PMPML official said, “The matter is being looked into and the depot concerned has been told to furnish a report. Action will be taken on its basis.”Maintenance of buses has been the biggest problems of the PMPML. It has so far failed to bring in any improvement on this front despite suggestions and warnings given by different agencies, including the bus manufacturers, regional transport office and Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT).On several occasions, passengers had a narrow escape when PMPML buses caught fire because of poor maintenance of vehicles. At least 45 passengers on board a PMPML bus had a narrow escape after the vehicle caught fire on Pune-Solapur Road near Ramtekdi bus stand on December 17 evening last year. There have been 19 cases of buses catching fire from April 2016 to December 2018.A PMPML bus developed a snag and stopped a few metres away from the PMPML office in the Swargate area, resulting in a traffic jam in the afternoon hours.“It is strange that though the bus broke down only 50 metres away from the PMPML office, it was not removed for a long time. It took me close to 40 minutes to cross that stretch. The PMPML needs to get its act together fast,” a commuter said.

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