Chandigarh, December 5
The much awaited Amritsar-Lahore bus service is finally scheduled to start from December 23 with the first bus coming in from Lahore on that day while the first bus from Amritsar will depart on December 27. The Punjab Government will be requesting the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to flag off the Indian bus from Amritsar.
Originally
the bus service was to start on November 9 and the Prime Minister was scheduled to flag it off. This had been postponed in view of the massive earthquake in Pakistan in the first week of October. It was then opined that holding a ceremony or launching of a new bus service between the two neighbours at that time of crisis in Pakistan could send wrong signals and the fragile friendship could be soured, officials said.
The schedule of operation of the bus service would remain the same when it starts after this postponement. The bus service would run between the Youth Hostel at Amritsar and Gulberg, an upmarket locality in Lahore. The Indian bus is scheduled to go to Pakistan every Tuesday and come back on Wednesday. The Pakistani bus would arrive here on Friday and depart on Saturday thus providing two connections every week.
India would be using a Volvo bus which is air conditioned and has all luxury facilities. Officials are also searching for a suitable name for the new bus service on the pattern of the Delhi -Lahore bus service that is named “Sada-e-Sarhad”. The trial run of the new bus service is scheduled for December 11, and this would be received in India by senior Punjab officials and MLAs of the area. On December 21 and 22 a delegation led by an External Affairs Ministry official would go to Islamabad for a technical meeting. Punjab officials would be a part of this delegation.
After this meeting the launch of the Amritsar-Lahore bus service would be announced and a second round of discussions would be held to run a bus service between Amritsar and the holy Sikh shrine of Nankana Sahib.
This bus service to Nankana Sahib was expected to start on Baisakhi. One of the concerns expressed are of security along the new road connecting Lahore with Nankana Sahib. Once this is done Indian and Pakistan would launch one bus each to cover this distance on a daily basis.
