The much-awaited inaugural run of the Kolkata-Agartala via Dhaka bus, which was flagged off by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday, hit a roadblock with technical glitches preventing the journey.
Media persons and government officials who were supposed to leave by the bus were taken to another regular Kolkata- Agartala via Dhaka bus with the scheduled plan delayed for about three hours as the technical glitches could not be removed.
"The delegation will go to Dhaka by the regular bus and another Kolkata-Agartala via Dhaka regular bus will accompany the bus as a spare and the original bus which was flagged off on Thursday will be thoroughly checked on Friday and then it will resume its journey," the state's Transport Department Principal Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, who is also part of the delegation, said.
Earlier flagging off the new bus, Banerjee hoped this would bring both India and Bangladesh closer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina were to have flagged off the Dhaka-Agartala leg of the entire service on June 6 in the presence of Banerjee.
After inaugurating the bus service from the state secretariat, Banerjee said, "The launch of the service makes this day forever memorable and historically significant for us".
"This will bring both India and Bangladesh closer and will strengthen the friendship that we have," she said, adding that they want to introduce bus services from Malda and Siliguri to Bangladesh.
"Our relations are not of one day and it has been there for a long time," she said.
"Waterways, land and roads all will be linked if our hearts are closer. The Land Boundary Agreement which is going to be signed in Bangladesh is historic," the chief minister said.
West Bengal Housing and Youth Services Minister Arup Biswas and Bandyopadhyay were part of the delegation taking the bus.
