Delhi-Nepal 'Maitri Bus Sewa' to resume soon if Covid situation improves: DTC


By Praveen Dwivedi

New Delhi, Aug 4 (IANS): Delhi to Nepal bus service -- Maitri Bus Sewa -- which was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March last year, may resume if the Coronavirus situation remains under control.

An official in the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) told IANS that the bus services will resume though no date has been fixed for it yet.

The official said that DTC has planned to send recommendations for this purpose to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), and if approved, the services will restart soon.

"DTC is doing its part to restart bus services but as they were suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so to restart the services, DTC would need to have the final consent from the MEA. Once the approval comes, there would be no delay from DTC's side.

"We are planning to resume bus services but the final decision would be taken only after the MEA's consent is received," R.S. Minhas, Deputy Chief General Manager (Traffic & Public Relations) in DTC, told IANS.

He further said that the Volvo buses which operate between Delhi and Kathmandu are private buses, which the DTC hires from the same bus service which operates between New Delhi and Lahore.

The Delhi-Kathmandu bus is a trans-boundary bus service connecting the capital cities of both the nations. Launched in 2014, the service is operated by DTC.

While DTC runs the bus service from the Indian side, the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) operates the service in Nepal under the supervision of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.

This AC Volvo bus service has 2x2 seating arrangements. The service starts from the Ambedkar Stadium bus terminal in Delhi and ends at the bus stand in Kathmandu located near the Pashupatinath Temple.

It travels via Agra (by Yamuna Expressway), Firozabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Gorakhpur in India. This is a direct bus service without any stop and it crosses the Sunauli border where Customs checks are carried out.

Similarly, in Nepal's jurisdiction, the bus follows a route via Tilottama, Rupandehi, Kawasoti, Narayangadh and finally to Kathmandu.

The 1,250 km long journey is covered in 30 hours. The first ever bus service from India to Nepal was flagged off on November 25, 2014.

The Maitri Bus Sewa was initiated as a symbol of desired friendship between the two nations and since its beginning, the buses have frequently carried pilgrims, tourists, foreign delegates and the general public from both the nations.

 

  

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