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Guwahati-Dhaka bus service soon

By R Dutta Choudhury

GUWAHATI, Dec 5 � The Guwahati-Dhaka bus service will soon become a reality as hectic preparations are on to make the service a reality as a part of improving connectivity between the two countries.

Highly placed official sources told The Assam Tribune that the preparations for introduction of the bus service have almost been completed and when launched, it would be a new milestone in improving connectivity of the North East region of the country.

Sources said that the first trial run of the Guwahati-Dhaka bus service is scheduled for December 10 and formal running of the service for passengers would be launched soon thereafter. The trial run of the bus would identify the problems that may be encountered en route, which would soon pave the way for the formal introduction of the service.

Sources revealed that two ministries of the Government of India � Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) � are actively involved in the preparations for the introduction of the bus service. Officials of both the ministries of the Government of India and senior officials of the Government of Bangladesh would travel on the bus in the trial run. Personnel from the security agencies would also travel on the bus.

However, the date for the formal launch of the service is yet to be finalized and it is yet to be ascertained as to which company would provide the buses for the service. Sources said that the distance between Guwahati to Dhaka would be around 309 kilometres and the bus would travel via Shillong and enter Bangladesh from the land border post in Dowki in Meghalaya before proceeding to Dhaka. The travel time will be around seven hours, depending on the road condition, sources said.

It may be mentioned here that the Kolkata-Dhaka bus service was the first bus service launched between the two countries. The service was launched in June 1999 amidst much fun fare and the first bus was received in Dhaka in by the Prime Minister of the neighbouring country. The bus service is operated jointly by the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation. Sources said that personnel from the security agencies travel on each bus due to security reasons.

The Agartala-Dhaka bus service, launched in 2001, was the second bus service between the two countries. However, the travel distance between Agartala and Dhaka is much less than the other two bus services from India to Dhaka, sources added.

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