BD-India cross-border bus service on verge of closure

Munima Sultana | Published: August 10, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The cross-border bus services on two routes between Bangladesh and India launched by the premiers of the two countries at a landmark flag-off ceremony are on the verge of closure due to lack of passengers.
Sources said Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati and Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartola routes have been witnessing a poor number of passengers since the inauguration on June 6 as they are facing visa-related problems in availing the service.
They said the Bangladesh side could operate only four trips on the Dhaka-Syhlet-Shillong-Guwahati route since the inauguration but no bus from the Indian side ran on the route during the last two months.
The first trip was managed with only eight passengers, followed by 11. The last trip of the bus service saw 27 passengers but the number was increased by shifting the passengers of earlier two bus services, the sources added. Â
Though the bus service on the Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartola route could be maintained three days a week, the number of passengers remained within 20 against the passenger capacity of 40.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the two bus services at a landmark ceremony in front of the Prime Minister's Office after trial run.
Both the services are supposed to see three buses run from both sides every week.
Official sources said Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), the state-owned bus operator of the two bus services, has already informed the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) of the poor number of passengers and requested it to take necessary actions.
The BRTC has identified that the problem behind getting the poor number of passengers was non-issuance of visa from the Indian side and put forward the demand to introduce port entry visa at Daoki of India to make the bus service vibrant.
"We have mainly informed the ministry about the poor condition of the Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati bus service as it hardly gets passengers due to visa-related problems," said an official preferring not to be named.
However, sources at Shyamoli Paribahan, which runs buses on behalf of the BRTC on both routes, said passengers from Bangladesh side who availed the first three trips have complained about not getting hotel accommodation on the Indian side due to apprehension of facing police harassment.
Hotels in Shillong have to take police permission to allow any Bangladeshi boarders in, they added.
When asked why passengers from Indian side are also poor in number, they pointed out the lack of a visa office of Bangladesh High Commission at Daoki.
Asked about poor condition of the bus service, BRTC Chairman Mizanur Rahman said the government has still a target to continue the bus service and will gradually solve the problems through discussion.
Mohammad Warej Alam Riaz of Shyamoli Paribahan, however, said due to lack of information about the tourism spots on both sides of the two countries, passengers were not having interest in the newly-introduced routes.
smunima@yahoo.com