India-Bangladesh bus service resumes after 2 years of suspension amid Covid

The cross-border bus service between Bangladesh and India resumed on Friday, two years after its suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Resumption of India-Bangladesh Cross-Border Bus Services! Bus services b/w India-Bangladesh via ICP Agartala-Akhaura & ICP Haridaspur-Benapole resumed with the Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka bus being flagged off from Dhaka early morning today-a major step forward in enhancing affordable, people-centric connectivity," tweeted High Commission of India in Bangladesh.

Tazul Islam, chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), had confirmed that the service would resume to The Daily Star on Thursday.

The development comes after the rail service between the two countries resumed on May 29. The train service between the two countries was suspended since March 2020 in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Two trains travel between India and Bangladesh, Bandhan Express operates between Kolkata and Khulna, Bangladesh while Maitree Express connects Kolkata with Dhaka.

Except for the Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati-Dhaka route, service on four other routes would resume from Friday and the first bus would start from Motijheel at 7:00 am, added Islam.

Before the suspension of service, buses were operated on five cross-border routes: Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka, Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka, Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati-Dhaka, Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata-Agartala, and Dhaka-Khulna-Kolkata-Dhaka, reported The Daily Star.

The discussion over the operation of the fifth route is also going on, said a BRTC official.