Calcutta: Better let than never. Bula Chowdhury has finally got the necessary permission from the central government and will start her preparations next week to cross the Palk Strait.

The ace swimmer would have taken the plunge last year, had the red tapes not prevented her.

“They took so long to complete formalities that I had almost lost hopes of completing my seventh long-distance swim, which will be a world record.

“But now after getting the permission, I feel that the fire inside me has been ignited once again. I will go all out for the world record,” Bula told The Telegraph on Monday.

“It has always been my dream to complete the world record in India.

“For the Palk Strait, I will start from Sri Lanka and finish in India,” Bula added.

The Sri Lankan embassy has already cleared Bula and she will be heading for Chennai next week to finalise things.