Bangladesh and India are working on launching a new bus service between Dhaka and Guwahati via Shillong to facilitate the movement of the people of the two neighbouring countries.
The Communications Ministry has planned to launch the bus service in December this year, a senior official said. A meeting in this regard was held at the ministry on Thursday while an inter-ministerial meeting would be held on September 11.
“We are taking preparation to launch the bus service on this new route within the shortest possible time,” Communications Secretary MAN Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The clearance from the Home Ministry and the National Board of Revenue is required for launching the bus service. “I can’t tell you the timetable, but we are going ahead,” he said, adding that the people would be able to travel to India at low cost.
Earlier, both the countries agreed to introduce bus service between Dhaka and Guwahati when Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made the proposal during her three-day visit to Dhaka in June this year.
Sushma who visited Dhaka from June 25-27 said India and Bangladesh should work on a possible bus service between Dhaka and Guwahati.
The total straight line distance between Dhaka and Guwahati is 309km (kilometre). If a bus runs at the speed of 50km per hour, it will take 6.18 hours to reach Guwahati. Starting from Dhaka, bus would run through Sylhet to Shillong in Meghalaya to Guwahati in Assam.
An official concerned said a feasibility study would be carried out soon and a technical team would visit India to examine the roads there. An Indian team would also come to Bangladesh.
The official said if the bus service is introduced, the people-to-people contact would increase and ultimately the people would benefit.
Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association President Md Faruk Talukder Sohel said if the government wants to deliver better service to the people, it should promote private sector.
Dhaka-Kolkata bus service started in July, 1999.
Currently, two buses having seating capacity for 40 are running between Dhaka and Kolkata every day. These are fully air-conditioned and super deluxe buses of international standards. Fare is Tk1,500 (for two ways) per passenger.
The bus service between Dhaka and Agartala started on September 22 in 2003. An air-conditioned super deluxe bus having seating capacity for 40 passengers runs on the route with fare Tk600 (for two ways).
