Amid multiple cases of electric two-wheelers catching fire, Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane on Sunday said each and every incident will be probed and asserted that the Indian EV industry is bound to prosper and grow beyond ‘our imagination’.

Aramane further said the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has achieved an overall asset monetisation value of about ₹21,000 crore in FY22 as part of the Centre's National Monetisation Pipeline.

Electric scooter catches fire in Tamil Nadu

An electric scooter caught fire in Hosur, an industrial hub in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri district, on Saturday causing panic in the area. The owner, a supervisor at a private firm in Bengaluru, had a providential escape.

Hosur resident Satish Kumar noticed his scooter suddenly catching fire from under the seat and jumped to safety. “As the vehicle went up in flames, passersby rushed to his help in dousing the blaze. But the vehicle got gutted,” police said. Satish bought the electric two-wheeler last year. Electric scooters suddenly catching fire has become a cause for concern of late.

String of such incidents

In a string of such incidents recently, a father and his daughter died due to suffocation in Vellore district in March due to the smoke caused by the explosion of the electric bike while being charged. An electric two-wheeler caught fire in Manapparai in Tiruchirappalli district, later.

Earlier this month, a man died when the detachable battery of the electric scooter kept for charging exploded in his house in Telangana.

In Tamil Nadu's Ambur this month, a frustrated man poured petrol on his e-scooter and set it afire as the manufacturers did not send help on time when he complained that the vehicle stopped working after 50 km. The video of the man torching his own bike went viral on social media.

Last week, electric scooter maker PURE EV, expressing deep regret over the alleged explosion of a battery of an electric scooter leading to the death of an 80-year-old man in Telangana's Nizamabad, announced that it has decided to recall 2,000 vehicles in Nizamabad and Chennai.

Concerned over the rise in incidents of electric two-wheelers catching fire, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari had said the companies found negligent will be penalised and a recall of all defective vehicles will be ordered after receiving the report of an expert panel that has been formed to inquire into the matter. The government had ordered a probe last month after an e-scooter launched by ride-hailing operator Ola's electric mobility arm caught fire in Pune.

The Centre for Fire Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) had been asked to probe the circumstances that led to the incident and also suggest remedial measures, according to the Road Transport Ministry. The Ministry had asked CFEES to share the findings along with its suggestions on measures to prevent such incidents.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW