511 cars caught fire on Telangana road in 2014

Hyderabad: Moving vehicles catching fire is a frequent incident in Telangana. As many as 511 vehicles have reduced to ashes on the roads of TS in the last year, killing 500 people, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

Fire broke out in most of these vehicles due to “mechanical defects” and short circuits. Crashes and cracks in fuel tanks can also cause fire.

Automobile engineers and experts say that short circuits in vehicles usually happen from the electrical wiring system when it is tampered to fit extra accessories.

NCRB data shows that 250 men and 250 women were killed in the fire erupted in goods carriers and passenger vehicles like buses, cars, and SUVs in 2014. Few vehicle burst into flames after a crash, while others just started burning while moving.

Last year, there were no single major accidental fires resulting in massive casualties like the Mahabubnagar bus mishap of 2013, in which 45 people were charred to death. However, the single incidents with minimum number of casualties contributed to large number of deaths.

Mechanical defects like fuel leakage, overheating of engine, high pressure at engine, can be found in vehicles, which are not maintained properly.

“Most of the time fire mishaps occur because the vehicles are ill maintained. A tire burst can also cause a fire if the vehicle is on maximum speed and the roads are hot in summer,” said a senior police official from Hyderabad traffic police. According to experts, vehicle owners fix extra accessories like woofers, amplifiers, headlamps, fog lamps, alarms etc.

“The battery of most vehicles cannot afford such accessories, since their power is limited to the default accessories. The overload can cause damage of the electric wiring system, which can produce sparks. The heat and spark of these cables can cause sudden fire,” said Mr N. Govind, an automobile engineer working for a car servicing centre in Begumpet.