A tragedy was avoided on Saturday afternoon when a private bus was on its way from Kundapura to Shivamogga, caught fire and burned to ash in minutes. The horrifying catastrophe occurred near the falls at the infamous Hulikal Balebare Ghat area, which boasts a landscape full of dense forests and treacherous hairpin curves.
Even so, more than twenty passengers were still on board and, because of the bus driver’s incredible presence of mind, they never got hurt despite the flames.
The Sequence of Events
The vehicle involved was a popular Durgamba private bus, a mode used by commuters going between the coastal town of Kundapura and the Malnad town of Shivamogga. Eyewitnesses have said the bus was cruising up the steep climbs of the Balebare Ghat when smoke wafting from the engine compartment started to thicken.
Realizing the imminent danger, the driver immediately stopped the vehicle just in front of the beautiful waterfall spot, a scene featuring sharp turnings and only very limited visibility. He instructed the passengers to immediately get out of their bus and leave their heavy luggage behind if necessary. This way it would save their lives. Smoke to Inferno. And the evacuation was a race against time.
Within seconds of the final passenger crossing the tarmac, the small fire in the engine transformed into a massive inferno. Encircled by the wind in the mountain pass, the flames leaping high above the upholstery and covered in curtains quickly spread their flames around the entire chassis. A passenger in a different vehicle, another passenger of the same route but from Yaduru took a horrifying video of the bus being consumed by flames.
The video that goes viral on social media today shows the bus’ skeletal remains glowing orange against the green backdrop of the Western Ghats. Preliminary Investigation and Traffic Impact. Following an alert of an emergency, Nagara Police Station jurisdiction local police arrived on the scene. Preliminary investigations indicate that at least a short circuit of the engine, and possibly a catastrophic technical failure in the fuel line, probably set the blaze in motion.
Traffic from Kundapura to Shivamogga was clogged for some hours while the incident was on a narrow portion of the main road. Hundreds of vehicles were left stranded on each side of the ghat as fire crews and police worked to make sure that the fire hadn’t spread to the neighboring forest and to clear the charred debris from the highway.
A Lesson in Safety
Although the financial damage done to the transport company is large, the narrative is now being hailed as a triumph of quick thinking. “If the driver had even taken another two minutes, we would be talking about a national tragedy today,” a local official said. The authorities have been using this incident to remind private transport operators of a need for regular mechanical audits, especially for vehicles on the rugged roadways of the Western Ghats.
