Two buses are started plying from Nepal to Ghaziabad and Delhi from Thursday after an agreement was reached between the Nepalese and Indian governments. These buses were inaugurated in Nepal on Wednesday evening. The buses, belonging to Nepal’s department of transport management, will start plying from Mahendranagar bus terminal in Nepal and halt at Sahibabad bus depot in Uttar Pradesh to drop off passengers before terminating the journey at Anand Vihar bus terminal in Delhi.
Currently, two Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses run from Anand Vihar bus terminal at 9pm every day to Mahendranagar via Sahibabad.
After a night-long journey, the buses first halt at 5.30 am at Kanchanpur bus depot in Nepal, which is six kilometres from the Indian border. They then make their way towards Mahendranagar bus terminal, which is 13 kilometres from the Indian border.
“To reach Mahendranagar, the buses have to cross the bridge on Sharda river which is open for heavy vehicles only from 6am to 8am and 6pm to 8pm. So we have to cross it within this designated time only. The return journey starts from Mahendranagar at 6pm,” said Anil Kumar, additional regional manager, Sahibabad bus depot. Lately, there has been an increase in the number of passengers travelling between Nepal and India.
“While many who go from here to Nepal are tourists, many from Nepal come here in search of work. We had started with one bus to and from Nepal last month, but with the increase in demand, we added one more bus earlier this month,” said PK Bose, UPSRTC regional manager, Ghaziabad. A general 2×2 bus was started in December with a fare of Rs 480 and early in January an AC 2×2 bus was started with a fare of Rs 570 for going to Nepal.
“Many tourists prefer this route as it goes through a wildlife reserve and crosses over snow-clad mountains,” said Kumar. He added that online booking of tickets is available and the buses are always full when they set out for Nepal.
Bose said passengers have to go through strict security measures as it is a cross-border travel. “As the security of our country is the topmost priority, all passengers boarding the bus from Nepal for India have to go through an intensive security check to avoid any possibility of an untoward incident,” Bose said.
