Agartala, Sept. 16: The long-awaited Agartala-Dhaka bus service is scheduled to be inaugurated in Dhaka on Friday by Bangladesh transport minister Nazmul Hoda and his Indian counterpart B.C. Khanduri.

But imposition of a new travel tax of Rs 500 per head by the Bangladesh government has cast a shadow on the bus service.

Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar and chief secretary V. Thulasidas are likely to attend the inauguration at Dhaka provided permission is received from the Centre on time. The inauguration in Dhaka would be followed by the departure of the Bangladesh State Transport Corporation (BRTC) bus. The first bus is likely to reach Agartala by 4 pm.

The Union surface transport minister and his Bangladeshi counterpart are scheduled to arrive here along with Manik Sarkar and attend the function.

The same day, Tripura Road Transport Corporation (TRTC) bus named Maitree would leave after the function. Imposition of the new travel tax of Rs 500 by the Bangladesh government, in addition to the fare of US $10, has cast a shadow on the commercial viability of the bus service.

Official sources here said that on an average 20 persons leave for different parts of Bangladesh everyday on visa. It might be difficult for the Dhaka-bound bus to have its capacity 40 passengers on all six days of the week.

TRTC sources here said so far only two persons have booked tickets for Dhaka on Monday, when commercial services begin.

BRTC chairman Taimur Alam Khondaqar who arrived here on Sunday to sign the operators’ level agreement, said the Bangladesh government would be persuaded to withdraw the new travel tax. But this seems unlikely at the moment.

Plastic ban: The Tripura government has reinforced its ban on use of plastic bags and containers from this morning.

A team of the state pollution control board, headed by executive engineer Manas Mookherjee and accompanied by police, raided Battala, Lake Chowmuhuni and Maharaj Ganj market areas in the town and seized 10 kg of plastic bags and containers. Mookherjee said the ban would be enforced under the provision of Recycle Plastic Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999 under the Union Environment Protection Act. The latest ban says plastic bags cannot be used to carry food, drinks of any kind, sweets and vegetables.

He added that the decision to ban use of plastic bags had been taken after a series of meetings with district magistrates, superintendents of police and non-governmental organisations by minister for science and technology Pabitra Kar.