BBIN MOTOR VEHICLE AGREEMENT
Six routes selected for trial operation
Trial run of buses on those routes to begin in October
Six routes have been selected to ply buses between Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal under the BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement and the trial run on those routes will begin in October, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said yesterday. The BBIN stands for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Nepal.
A motor rally will be organised between November 14 and December 1 and the representatives of the BBIN member countries will join it, the minister told reporters at a press briefing at Bangladesh Secretariat.
The possible routes are Kolkata-Petrapole-Benapole-Jessore-Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Dhaka-Hatikurul-Bogra-Rangpur-Burimari-Chengrabandha-Shiliguri, Dhaka-Hatikumrul-Bogra-Rangpur-Burimari-Chengrabandha-Joygaon-Phuentsholing-Thimphu, Dhaka-Hatikumrul-Bogra-Rangpur-Banglabandha/ Phulbari-Panitanky-Kakravita-Kathmandu, Kolkata-Dhaka-Sarail-Sylhet-Tamabil-Dauki-Shilong-Gohati-Shyamdurap-Jhankar, and Khulna-Jessore-Benapole-Petrapole-Kolkata.
Starting from Indias Bhubaneswar (Odisha), the motor rally will reach Bangladeshs Akhaura on November 28 via Nepal-Bhutan-Assam-Tripura. The rally will start again for Kolkata from Dhaka on November 30 and conclude there, the minister said.
The BBIN countries will complete the Protocol for Movement of Passenger Vehicles (PMPV) before December so that the MVA could be finalised by September 23 to ply passenger buses and personal cars, he added.
Among others, Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary MAN Siddique and high officials of departments concerned were present at the briefing.
Transport ministers from the BBIN member countries signed the MVA on June 15 in Thimphu for the regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic amongst BBIN.
The draft SAARC Motor Vehicles Agreement was placed at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu of Nepal on November 22 last year.
