AGARTALA, May 6 (TIWN): Indo-Bangla international bus services between Agartala and Dhaka were completely stopped after pitched political violence continued in Bangladesh despite efforts of reconciliation and enforcement. “We had to stop the Dhaka-Agartala bus service completely. There is no trace about when things could get back to normal”, a highly placed official of the Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC) said.TRTC stopped its periodic Dhaka-Agartala bus service for nearly a month now. The Bangladeshi surface transport authorities stopped it last week. TRTC and Bangladesh authorities started the Agartala-Dhaka bus service in September, 2003. India and Bangladesh started the Kolkata-Dhaka bus service earlier in 1999. The Agartala-Dhaka bus service was run for four days a week. Growing preference of the ‘foreign’ route for commuting to Kolkata or the rest of the country through West Bengal en route Bangladesh led the authorities to consider increasing periodicity of the buses, the source said. He, however, said that bus drivers relented from continuing services in the wake of renewed phase of political violence as all efforts of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government to enforce peace seems falling apart.

The opposition political parties of Bangladesh led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) launched a nationwide indefinite blockade to protest the first anniversary of 2014 Parliament election in the country. Scores of people were killed with very frequent incidents of violence, police people clashes, sever injuries, petrol bomb attacks since January 05.

Transportation through Bangladesh is considered easier, economic and faster, especially after the passenger air travel sector started exhibiting severe crisis and NFR authorities imposed mega block in the Lumding-Agartala route for gauge conversion in October last year.

"We do not know when the internal situation of Bangladesh would normalise. However, braving the hostile situations in Bangladesh, some goods-laden trucks are arriving at the Akhaura checkpost (between India and Bangladesh), said an ICP source.

Akhaura land port, 150 km east of Bangladesh capital Dhaka and just on the outskirts of Tripura capital Agartala, is the most important international trading land port along India-Bangladesh border after Benapole land port in West Bengal.
Situated just adjacent to the heart of Agartala, Akhaurah land customs station is the most important international trading land port in northeast India with an average of 200 Bangladeshi trucks loaded with goods for export coming to Tripura every day.