Buses for Games: CBI books Ashok Leyland staff

According to the officials,the CIRT officials connived with Ashok Leyland and overlooked fire safety measures. A low-floor bus of Ashok Leyland had caught fire on April 1 and 45 passengers had a narrow escape.

But Ashok Leyland managing director R Seshasayee said,“Our buses plying with DTC fully conform to all quality requirements and are covered by valid certifications from the accredited laboratory,as required,and meet all safety norms.”

CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said: “The manufacturer is not allowed to use items in the manufacturing unless the material procured conform to the specifications in lab test.”

These samples were sent to CIRT for testing. The CBI has alleged that CIRT official unofficially informed Ashok Leyland about the failure of test of plywood (also called marine board) and did not inform the DTC. “CIRT officials managed fresh samples of plywood from Ashok Leyland,tested them as per specifications and sent a fitness report by giving the reference of first samples and induced DTC to accept the same while the test report in question was forged,” said Bhal.

“As per specifications for the fire test,time taken for second ignition should be 30 minutes,so that in case of fire passengers can get sufficient time to escape,but lab tests revealed that the time taken was approximately 9 to 21 minutes,” said Bhal.

The CBI registered the case on July 21 against three CIRT officials M H Bavardekar (in-charge of Technical Directorate),V D Chavan (Scientist,Auto Lab-I),and D N Nande (Head of Engineering Division-I) and two representatives of Ashok Leyland A Medhekar and V P Gautam.

Of the 500 buses on roads,Ashok Leyland had withdrawn 63 buses in March after complaints that the marine board did not match one of the tests of CIRT. “Since then,these buses have been refitted with components that have passed the internal and CIRT tests,and fully inspected and cleared by DTC inspectors. CIRT has confirmed that this was the one and only isolated mix-up,” said Seshasayee. DTC officials were not available for comment.