Government steps in, will screen car fire probes

NEW DELHI: Several cases of deaths in car fires in the capital have prompted the government to prepare a roadmap for time-bound investigation of these accidents and to ensure that automobile manufacturers rectify any faults that show up in these probes.
Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday that progress on this issue will be monitored periodically at the highest level.He said although most incidents of auto fire are attributed to short circuit, there was a need to take detailed "technical opinion" in each case so that faults can be fixed - if necessary, through a controlled recall of models.
Sources added that experts need to investigate whether short-circuits happen due to design faults in the car or because of the wirings being tampered with during installation of accessories such as high power music systems.
A transport ministry official said a mechanism would be established enabling the police and other agencies to upload reports on the internet for every fire incident.
"Since they have done the investigation, they can put details including the forensic evidences identifying the cause of an accident. These reports will be accessible to the agencies that have issued the type approval certification. They can quickly identify the reason and if it's due to the manufacturer's fault, they have to rectify it," said the official.
As per the proposal, the monitoring will be on a monthly basis. Every three months, all such cases will be taken up by the Central Motor Vehicles Rules-Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC), the apex body for type approval of vehicles and components.
However, experts said the ministry's plan leaves out one crucial area of concern. "How will the consumer be indemnified for loss of life or injury and loss of property?" asked an expert. The investigations must be done by institutions set up for the purpose by the state government, he added.