‘India working on Ctg-Tripura bus service’
Tour operators of Bangladesh have put forward a proposal to introduce a direct bus service between Agartala, capital city of Indian state of Tripura, and Chattogram via Dhaka, Tripura's Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said today.
"We are working on the proposal, which will be feasible once the Indian government clears the proposal. The Bangladesh tour operators have been asked to take up the issue with their government," the minister told the media in Agartala, our New Delhi correspondent reports.
Tourists from Tripura are keen to visit Chattogram due to nostalgia of a shared past, he said.
During 2018-19, around 1.2 lakh foreign tourists had visited Tripura's tourist hotspots and 80 percent of them were from Bangladesh, the minister pointed out.
The existing Agartala-Kolkata via Dhaka bus service has resumed after being suspended for two years due to the Covid pandemic. Another bus is expected to be introduced in the route very soon.
Singha Roy said a MoU will be inked between the state tourism department and Bangladesh tour operators to introduce conducted tours to the neighbouring country during the second edition of Indo-Bangla Paryatan Utsav.
The three-day tourism event will begin on April 17 and a 75-member strong contingent from Bangladesh will be present, officials said.
The Bangladesh team will include MP Abidul Mukhtar Chowdhury, tour operators, hotel owners, cultural activists, intellectuals and political personalities, they said.
Tour operators from West Bengal and Assam will also take part in the India-Bangladesh Parjatan Utsav which will be inaugurated by Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
"We want to promote tourism on both sides as it generates faster revenue," Singha Roy said.
The first edition of India-Bangladesh Parjatan Utsav was held in 2020 and could not be held last year due to the Covid pandemic.
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