Direct bus service with Nepal likely:Daily Star

Direct bus service between Dhaka and Kathmandu might start next year as Nepal has agreed in principle with a proposal made by Bangladesh to that end. The government made the proposal last year considering the huge potential of the service, as a significant number of tourists visit Nepal and many students from the Himalayan country come to Bangladesh for higher studies every year. A number of bus o
perators have already shown their interest to launch services on the route. “We have already submitted a draft proposal to the Nepalese government. They are also interested in the direct bus service. It is under consideration of the Nepalese government,” said Mashfee Binte Shams, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Nepal. The Nepalese government had agreed in principle to launch the bus service and things would move faster after the Saarc Summit, she said when this correspondent met her along with a group of visiting Bangladeshis at the 'Bangladesh House' in Kathmandu last month. There were a number of issues needed to be finalised through discussion at a joint technical committee level meeting before signing the protocol, she added. Bangladesh has also submitted a proposed route map prepared by geographical information system experts of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Advertisement According to the proposed route, distance between Dhaka and Kathmandu is 1,184 kilometres and the journey would take around 22 hours by bus. The proposed route map shows 510km from Dhaka to Banglabandh that would take around nine hours, 56km from Banglabandh to Kakarvita through Panitanki border in Shiliguri in India that would take around one hour and 618km from Kakarvita to Kathmandu which would take around 11 hours. Currently, there are three trans-boundary bus services between Bangladesh and India -- Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka, Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka and Dhaka-Shiliguri-Dhaka. “Passengers have to travel as much as 80km more to obtain immigration clearance at the Burimari Port due to the lack of immigration facilities at Banglabandh Port. But it would be better if the government took an initiative to set up an immigration office at Banglabandh,” said the high commissioner. Asked what the process would be and how long it might take to launch the bus service, she said the process would start with a joint secretary level bilateral technical committee meeting. The launch of the bus service was possible within a few months once the process started, she observed. Bangladesh submitted the proposal to Nepal in 2013 and the issue of duty-free access of goods was also discussed at a joint secretary level meeting of the commerce ministries of the two countries. Bangladesh has proposed duty free access of 108 categories of goods, while Nepal sought duty free access for 146 types of goods at that meeting. Currently, around 4,500 students from Nepal are studying in Bangladesh and the number is increasing every year. Last year, more than 700 students came to Bangladesh from Nepal to pursue higher education, mostly in medicine and engineering, and most of them travelled by bus. As many as 862 Nepalese students have submitted applications this year, the high commissioner said, adding, 22 of them have got government scholarship. At the same time, every year several thousand Bangladeshi tourists visit Nepal, a popular destination for people around the globe. Around 26,000 tourists went to Nepal only from Bangladesh last year. The direct bus service is likely to be very popular among the tourists as it would be through Eastern Nepal where many popular tourist spots are located. The bus service would also increase the number of Nepalese tourists visiting Bangladesh, said a Bangladeshi national working in Nepal who was involved in making the proposed route map. Bangladesh is also looking to launch of a direct bus service with Assam in India.