KATHMANDU, July 12: Direct bus service between Pokhara and New Delhi has begun.
Minister for Home Affairs Shakti Bahadur Basnet and India ambassador to Nepal Ranjit Rae jointly flagged off the New Delhi-bound bus from Pokhara amid a function on Monday.
The bus service has been started in line with the Motor Vehicle Agreement that two governments signed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Nepal visit in November, 2014, according to a press release issued by the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu.
Under the agreement, the two countries have already been operating buses on Kathmandu-New Delhi, Kathmandu-Varanasi and Mahendranagar- New Delhi sectors and vice versa. Busfare has been fixed at Rs 3,500 (IRs 2,200).
These services have been very well received by the people of Nepal and India, the release added.
Under the Motor Vehicle Agreement, a new bus service between Pokhara and New Delhi was proposed by the Uttar Pradesh State Road transport Corporation (UPSRTC). Accordingly, a team of officers from UPSRTC visited Nepal in May for discussing and finalizing the modalities of the proposed bus service between Pokhara and New Delhi. Subsequently a formal agreement between UPSRTC and Modern Era Tours and Travels, Nepal was signed in June to start the bus service.
The new bus service will provide a link between the lake city and the Indian capital. “As lot of people from India visit Pokhara every year, there was a long pending demand from the people to start this route. The start of regular bus service between New Delhi and Pokhara will improve connectivity, further enhance people to people contact and further strengthen the multi-dimensional ties between India and Nepal,” the release added.
It further said that the bus service will also have an extremely positive impact on the tourism industry of Nepal, particularly in Pokhara.
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