SHILLONG: The 26-seater BRTC Indo-Bangla bus service that started from Dhaka arrived in Shillong on Monday. The 22 member Bangladeshi delegation that left Dhaka in the BRTC bus on Sunday was received by Meghalaya Transport Corporation manager Anthony Pariat.
The members revealed that the final agreement on the bus service between Dhaka-Shillong-Guwahati will be finalized and flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his scheduled visit to Dhaka next month.
“We were informed that the final decision on the bus service will be taken during Modi’s visit,” Bangladesh Government Joint Secretary Azharul Islam Khan told newsmen here before returning to Bangladesh on Monday.
Khan also said an agreement and a protocol had to be signed between the two countries before the services were introduced.
It may be mentioned that a 26-seater BRTC bus trial run between Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka to Guwahati began on May 22.
Throwing light on the bottlenecks, Khan revealed that the narrow roads especially the hills as well as the single-lane suspension bridge over the Umngot River at Dawki posed difficulties for the bus considering its size.
“The Centre has planned several transport corridors between India and Bangladesh through Dawki, including the construction of a two-lane bridge over Umngot in Dawki”, he added.
Meanwhile, he said that the condition of Shillong-Guwahati road was very good.
He also pointed that the absence of proper toilets and eateries for passengers was another major drawback.
“The immigration office on the Indian side is another concern since it is still functioning manually. The function at the immigration office needs to be upgraded,” Khan said.
“As of now, it took more than three hours to get a clearance from the immigration office. The reduction in the time in getting the clearance from the immigration office will also help to reduce the hours of the journey,” he added.
“The duration of the journey is nine to ten hours only from Dhaka to Guwahati via Shillong, but we have taken more than that. The minor problems will be worked out between officials of both the countries,” Khan assured.
