Centre Takes Note of Bus Fire Accidents in Jaisalmer, Kurnool
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
Hyderabad: The Central government has taken note of recent fatal sleeper-bus fires on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route and Kurnool to Bangalore route. It issued an advisory to all States and Union Territories (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 and 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 February 6, 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, Nitin Jairam Gadkari in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.