SAFETY STANDARDS IN BUSES AND FIRE INCIDENTS
SAFETY STANDARDS IN BUSES AND FIRE INCIDENTS
The Government has taken note of recent fatal sleeper-bus fires on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route and Kurnool to Bangaluru route. The Government has issued an advisory to all States/UTs for compliance with AIS:052 and AIS:119 at the time of registration and during fitness inspection as per Rule 62 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.
In the sleeper coach fire on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route, it has been observed that Bus length was beyond the permissible limit, emergency doors do not meet the minimum dimensional requirements, passenger seats obstructed the passage to the emergency door, only one roof hatch was provided instead of two roof hatches, roof luggage carrier provided with ladder, driver cabin partition was present and Fire Detection & Suppression System was not fitted as per requirements of Central Motor vehicle Rules (CMVR) 1989. These modifications should have been detected at the time of vehicle certification by the local transport officers of the State Government.
The total number of registered sleeper coaches as on 6th February, 2026 is 49,616. A total of 886 bus body builders have been accredited so far.
In the sleeper coach fire incident on Kurnool – Bengaluru route, it has been observed that the registration certificate of the bus had indicated “Seating capacity” only.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari Ji in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
*****