Assam to conduct trial run of Guwahati-Dhaka bus
SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Government is in the dark about the proposed trial run of the regular passenger bus service to Dhaka from Guwahati via Shillong which is scheduled on December 10 and 11.
The Union Government has constituted a joint technical survey and trial run to introduce regular passenger bus services to Dhaka from Guwahati.
“The trial run and route survey will be carried out jointly by delegations from India and Bangladesh by way of a dry run of the service to assess route conditions and other technical parameters. The delegations are expected to submit the report on the details and feasibility of starting of the regular bus services,” the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said in a statement issued on Saturday adding that the trial run will conclude at Dhaka on December 12.
However, The Meghalaya Transport department has been kept in the dark on the proposed trial run.
“We have no information about the trial run and we are not involved in the exercise,” a senior official of the Transport department said here.
The proposed bus service to Dhaka has created a rift between Assam and Meghalaya with the two states going in diametrically opposite directions on the issue of trial run of the bus.
It was reported recently that while the Shillong-Dhaka (via Sylhet) bus service was the brainchild of the Meghalaya Government, Assam suddenly came into picture and took initiatives to carry out the trial run of the bus service.
When asked about the development, Transport Minister H.D.R. Lyngdoh said that he and the Chief Minister would seek the intervention of the Ministry of External Affairs to ensure that the bus service is initiated through proper channel as the Meghalaya Government had all along been pursuing the matter with Bangladesh.
“If Assam wants to inaugurate the bus service, let them do it in Guwahati, but we will see to it that our Chief Minister inaugurates the bus service in Meghalaya,” Lyngdoh said.
Concerned over the development, Lyngdoh said that he was ready to go to Dhaka to ensure that Meghalaya continues to play a greater role in managing the bus service.
“We are yet to purchase vehicles for the bus service to Dhaka, and moreover, we have not fixed any date for the trial run as first we have to identify check points which will act as a mechanism to prevent influx,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has informed that negotiations with Bangladesh for starting the bus services from Guwahati and Shillong have been underway for the past several months and have gathered momentum.
The proposed bus service covering approximately 500 km starting from Guwahati will be taking the Shillong- Dawki (Meghalaya)/ Tamabil (Bangladesh)-Sylhet-Dhaka route, it said.
According to the Ministry this will be in addition to two passenger bus services to Dhaka already operating from Kolkata in West Bengal and Agartala in Tripura.
The official Indian delegation for the trial run will be headed Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Superintending Engineer W. Blah.
The delegation will also have representatives from the Ministries of Finance, Home Affairs and External Affairs apart from the State Governments of Assam and Meghalaya, according to the statement.
The flag off the trial run is scheduled at from Guwahati on December 10 at 9 am.
The Bangladesh delegation for the trial run consisting of seven senior officials will reach Guwahati on December 9 and proceed to Dhaka on December 10 by bus along with the Indian delegation.