Users of the Namma Metro in Bengaluru were in for a scare on Saturday after a purple line train emitted smoke from underneath a coach at around 5 pm in the evening. The incident occurred when the train was about to leave Indiranagar Station for the Swami Vivekananda Road station.
A video of the incident has been tweeted by one metro user Kashyap Jagadeesh. He tweeted the video with the text— “Technical issue in Bengaluru Metro train/ coach..Smoke from Battery and LTEB box..Commuters evacuated.”
Technical issue in Bengaluru Metro train/ coach..Smoke from Battery and LTEB box..
— Kashyap Jagadeesh (@kashjag) October 19, 2019
Commuters evacuated @ Swami Vivekananda Station.@cpronammametro @nammametrouser @VVani4U @Vijaykarnataka @DDNewsLive #bmrcl #metrouser pic.twitter.com/n2FoLYvwNC
BMRCL Executive Director (Operations) A Shankar confirmed the development. “There was no fire. We took a precautionary measure to take it into the depot. The casing of a battery used for UPS in the coach had got heated up which led to the smoke. We are suspecting short circuit inside the battery to be the cause but at present we are still analysing.” The coach was sent to the car shed for inspection.
The Namma Metro coaches have been in operation since 2011 and were made in South Korea.
Speaking to TNM, Surya Narayana Murthy, Vice President of Bengaluru Metro Rail Employees Union said, “The issue occurred at around 5:06 pm when the train was leaving towards Byappanahalli. After a passenger from the opposite side raised alarm, authorities asked commuters to deboard the train. The train was then rushed to the BMRCL depot in Bommanahalli for thorough inspection.”
He added, “As we understand this was not a fire but smoke was coming from one of the batteries which are fitted to the coaches. This happens due to fluctuation of the power supply. This shows the management has to take care of the maintenance in a much better way. But the management is more interested in painting walls and other beautification purposes. Whoever is responsible for this lapse should be punished as passenger safety should not be compromised.”
There have been multiple incidents of disruptions in the services since 2011 when the first services started.