Dhaka-Guwahati bus touches city

SHILLONG: The trail run of Dhaka- Guwahati bus , the third road route being developed by the two neighbouring countries, reached Shillong on Saturday.
The 26-seater BRTC bus that left Dhaka with over 20 Bangladesh government officials at around 3 pm on Friday arrived here at around 9 am here and Meghalaya Transport Corporation Manager Anthony Pariat received the entourage.
Aimed at improving people-to-people contact, the bus is expected to foster friendships and contacts between the residents of the two neighbouring countries and slated to be officially launched next month.
Speaking to media persons here, Bangladeshi Road Transport and Bridges Ministry Joint Secretary Md Azharul Islam Khan said that the journey so far has been very enjoyable.
They halted at Sylhet for the night before resuming their journey at 7:30 am on Saturday.
“The security and custom checks took nearly three hours causing an additional delay to the journey that should have been completed within nine hours travel time,” he said.
Stating that toilet and other facilities need to be further upgraded for the comfort of the passengers, he said that the road condition was somehow satisfactory.
Khan said the minor glitches would be worked out between the officials of the two countries.
Among the other concerns, according to Khan, was the narrow old iron bridge at Dawki and also the snaky climb up the hills from Dawki onwards where the road is under construction
When asked why the bus service was changed from Dhaka-Shillong to Dhaka-Guwahati at the last moment, he said  the bus route was extended to Guwahati following public demand.
The bus will return to Dhaka from Guwahati on Monday via Shillong.