Title - India-Bangla talks on for Agartala-Kolkata direct bus via Dhaka

AGARTALA: India is taking up with Bangladesh for a direct bus service From Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka, a top bureaucrat said today."We have proposed at the diplomatic level for a direct Agartala-Kolkata bus service via Dhaka considering the geographical isolation of many north eastern states including Tripura," Secretary of Ministry of Surface Transport and Highway, A K Upadhyay said.The 1800 km distance between Agartala and Kolkata through Assam and Meghalaya would be reduced to 350 km by bus or road transport and could be covered in a day.At present there were bus services from Agartala to Dhaka and Dhaka to Kolkata and vice versa, but no direct bus service.Meanwhile, India completed the final survey for the 11.5 km railway line to link Akhaura in Bangladesh and Agartala, a project which New Delhi planned to implement for linking railways of the two countries, official sources said.The Railway Ministry has started making the Detailed Project Report for the project and the central government has sanctioned Rs 2.52 crore for laying the railway track to connect West Bengal and Tripura through Bangladesh.During Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to New Delhi in January 2010, India and Bangladesh had agreed to lay railway lines between Akhaura and Agartala.