Staff Correspondent

The trial run for direct bus services on Dhaka-Gangtok and Dhaka-Darjeeling routes via Siliguri have been delayed by few days, according to officials.

The trial run was supposed to start from today but it could not happen as the government has not issued any necessary order in this regard yet, they added.

“The GO [government order] has not been issued. So, we are not starting tomorrow [Thursday]. It [trial run] may be delayed by one or two days,” Ehsan Elahi, chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), told The Daily Star yesterday.

As per the plan, two buses with around 40 passengers including officials from both Bangladesh and Indian government, were supposed to leave Dhaka at 6am today and return on December 16.

A large number of holidaymakers seek direct bus services to Gangtok and Darjeeling as those are popular tourist destinations, according to government officials and bus operators.

Besides, many Bangladeshi parents send their children to boarding schools in Darjeeling and they make frequent visits to the area, they added.

Distance between Dhaka and Darjeeling via Siliguri is around 450-kilometre whereas distance between Dhaka and Gangtok via Siliguri is around 500-kilometre.

Currently, buses operate on five cross-border routes between Bangladesh and India -- Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka, Dhaka-Agartala-Dhaka, Dhaka-Sylhet-Shillong-Guwahati-Dhaka, Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata-Agartala and Dhaka-Khulna-Kolkata-Dhaka.