SHILLONG: After initial euphoria, the much talked about Guwahati-Shillong-Dhaka bus service has become a non starter after the formal launching of the bus service in June last year following successful completion of the trial run in December, 2014.
An official with the State Transport department said the bus service has turned out to be not viable in the absence of proper planning and the assessment of passenger flow.
The official also added that initially only some tourists and officials used the bus service and later, there was no regular bus service.
There is a need to have a relook into the whole matter as there was not much involvement of the common people who make a difference compared to the officers and high end tourists who visit the State, the official added.
Though the original plan was to have an exclusive Shillong-Dhaka bus service, Guwahati was connected and the neighbouring state had also provided logistics to run the bus service.
Meghalaya has been demanding rolling out of Volvo buses to run the Shillong-Sylhet or Shillong-Dhaka bus services which the Centre is yet to approve.
Earlier, there were media reports that the Assam Transport department was also in the dark over the details regarding the resumption of bus service.
Road permits from Bangladesh, security concerns, road infrastructure and fixing of fares are issues which are yet to be sorted out by Assam, Meghalaya and Central and Bangladeshi authorities before starting regular bus service.
