Dhaka-Agartala bus service faces closure

The Indo-Bangla bus service which started on October 23 last year faces closure threat within a year of its operation due to various reasons. A few of the reasons are bad shape of road, official bottleneck being confronted by passengers regularly at Akhaura check post and Customs office.

The fare was fixed at Tk 300 or 232 Indian rupees per passenger.

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Bus services of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) and TRTC of India earned popularity within 10 months of its operation. But BRTC and TRTC could not sustain their smooth services due to unfitness of 16-kilometre road from Akhaura check post to Dharker in Brahmanbaria.

Moreover, the road is so narrow at the certain point that two motor vehicles cannot cross at a time. Besides, a lot of cracks developed on the road. The service had to be stopped for sometime as a baily bridge at Debogram, Akhaura collapsed. After repair of the bailey bridge, traffic movement resumed. But it stopped again for seven months due to devastating flood.

Because of shortage of passengers, BRTC suspended its service for an indefinite period while TRTC still runs with merely three to five passengers per trip incurring losses.

On November 20, a TRTC bus ran empty to keep alive the bus service, according to the TRTC authorities.

While contacted, Akhaura check post LCO Muhammad Ali told this correspondent, most travellers in Agartala prefer travelling on foot to bus journey. They enter Bangladesh on payment of tax at the concerned offices and go elsewhere availing of various modes of transport available here. They do so to avoid difficult procedures of direct bus services, Ali added.