Ujjain Bureau. A bus carrying the branding of the Chief Minister’s Sugam Parivahan Seva went up in flames on the Ujjain–Indore highway near Ramvas on Tuesday afternoon, triggering panic among passengers. All twelve people on board managed to jump out in time, and no casualties were reported.
According to Amar Ujala, the bus was travelling from Ujjain towards Indore when one of its tyres burst. The driver lost control and the vehicle erupted into a massive fire within moments. Thick plumes of black smoke billowed into the sky and were visible from a considerable distance, drawing a crowd of villagers and passers-by.
Fire tenders battled the blaze for 90 minutes
Dainik Bhaskar reported that four fire tenders rushed to the spot and took around 45 minutes to bring the fire under control, with the blaze fully doused in about an hour and a half. By then, the bus had been reduced to its chassis. Firefighters continued cooling operations to ensure the flames did not reignite.
Fire tenders at the spot near Ramvas after the blaze was brought under control. Photo: Punjab Kesari
Branding row: officials say it was a private bus
The incident has raised uncomfortable questions because the bus carried the saffron radium branding of the newly launched Mukhyamantri Sugam Parivahan Seva. Officials have claimed, however, that the vehicle belonged to a private operator — an old diesel bus on which the new service’s branding had been pasted. Both the police and the transport department are investigating the ownership claim, Navbharat Times reported.
The service was launched only eleven days ago, on September 25, with 351 inter-city and intra-city buses flagged off at Bhopal’s BHEL Dussehra Maidan in the presence of Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The government has pitched it as a safe, modern and comfortable public transport system, with the fleet targeted to grow to 15,000 buses by 2031.
A city bus on an Indore route. The gutted bus was operating on the Ujjain–Indore route. (Representative image) Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Probe ordered, fitness under lens
Police officials said the exact cause of the fire will be confirmed after a technical examination of the wreckage. With the incident coming within days of the service’s launch, the maintenance and fitness of buses running under the new scheme are now under scrutiny.
