Uttarakhand exploring direct bus service to Nepal

Dehradun: The Uttarakhand government is working in the direction of starting a direct bus service from the hill state to Nepal, an official said on Friday.

With no such direct bus connecting the state to Nepal, the people here until now have been dependant on the bus service from Delhi to the Himalayan country.

There are three buses plying from New Delhi to Kathmandu, of these two are of the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) and one of the Uttarakhand government.

"There are a lot of people from Nepal who reside in Uttarakhand and the government wants to give them this facility," the official said.

"A meeting between officials of both sides was slated for July. They were likely to finalise the route, ticket pricing and other modalities," he added.

Political parties have time and again raised the issue. The official also said that Trivendra Singh Rawat-led-Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state was seriously considering it.

The state transport corporation thereafter would notify the routes and the buses would then start plying.

IANS